To someone who is as fed up and bored as I am
by Nebresh
Summary: Harry gets a mysterious letter in the summer after the Ministry incident. While his new correspondend learns about muggles, Harry finds out how the magical world works.
1. Chapter 1

Monday, 13th of July

„To someone who is as fed up and bored as I am" Harry read on the envelope of the letter a small brown barn owl had just delivered. He had spent the best first weeks of summer in his life. The Dursleys had left for a five-week holiday on Majorca, and he had to share the house only with the handymen who refurbished the kitchen and the living room as well as both bathrooms. His friends had written a few times, but now Hermione had left for France with her parents, and Ron was at Grimmauld, hunting doxies and mice.

So he opened the letter. On expensive parchment, in a flowing handwriting that betrayed a younger girl, he read:

"Dear unkown,

I must apologise for intruding on you just like that. I sent Sylaris, my owl, to find someone with who I could correspond during this summer. You are, of course, either a wizard or a witch, and you are either muggle born or half blood. I don't know if you are older or younger than I am, but as Sylaris is a smart owl, you are as bored as I am. I won't tell you my name right now, but let me introduce myself. I live with my aunt and uncle, and my two cousins A and D. My parents are dead, and I won't talk about this before I know you better. Anyway, my cousins and I showed some spectacularly bad judgment last school year, and we are all grounded for the summer. Everyone in different rooms, actually. Uncle Raginald was politically hurt by our actions, and so A and I are under a geas not to communicate with anyone who is a pureblood this summer, except for Uncle Raginald and Aunt Beatrice. D's punishment is even worse, but then she is older. All my friends are pureblood. Actually, I don't really know anyone who is not.

Most likely, you know not too much about the way we purebloods live, and I don't know anything about the way muggleborns or muggles live. Uncle Raginald forced A and me to take muggle studies, but even I understand that the subject is – to put it blunt – balderdash. So, if you want to learn about us, and are willing to tell me something about the way muggles live, please write back. I'm dying of boredom. If it's all the same to you, please do not ask me for my name, and I promise, I won't ask yours for now.

Best regards,

E."

Harry sat back in his lawn chair and smiled. This unknown girl's letter was more entertaining than anything he had seen in the past week. He couldn't really blame his friends, but still he hated it. She actually intrigued him. Why was she grounded? And what exactly was a geas? The barn owl was still sitting patiently and waited. "I'll get you an owl treat, and then I'll write to your mistress."

"Dear E,

Thank you for your letter. You have a very smart owl to find me. Anyway, for our letters, please call me J. I would be very interested to write to you and try to explain about the way muggles live. I myself am born to wizards, but like you, and like quite a lot of our age, I am an orphan. I live with my aunt, uncle and cousin, who are all muggles and hate magic. So yes, I know quite a lot about muggles, and very little about the way purebloods live. I have a pureblood friend, but I would guess that his family is not really typically for your kind. I know a little about the life of another pureblood family, and what I have learned is not really something that… Well, let's just say that I prefer even my relatives. So, to start off, I will ask some questions that have long intrigued me. If I break a million social rules, please forgive me.

How rich exactly are the purebloods? If you look at the Malfoys or others, you believe that they are all billionaires. How is your life like?

Why exactly are a lot of purebloods against muggle-borns? Why do you separate yourselves so much from the muggles?

What's life in Slytherin House like?

How do you learn to read and write? Are there primary schools for purebloods?

What's a geas?

Hope to hear from you soon,

J."

The owl picked up the letter and disappeared into the evening air of Surrey. Harry stretched and began to water the roses, splashing quite a lot of water into a special corner of the yard. For the seventh time in two weeks, he was rewarded by several loud curses from underneath an invisible cloak.

"Come on, Tonks. I thought you were taught to shadow people."

A very wet junior auror appeared between the hedges. "I have told you several times by now, wonderboy…"

Harry rolled his eyes. "It's the only thing I can amuse myself with. Anything new from the front?"

"No. You-know-who is still keeping mum. Snape has not visited him since that night. And we have not seen a hair of a Death Eater. Have you felt anything?"

"No. Except for Sirius, I sleep like a baby."

The young auror stepped up to Harry and placed her hand onto his shoulder. "Getting better?"

"Yes. You helped a lot. Maybe you should just quit and become a shrink, too." Tonks had only received a cursory healing education, but the aurors had some psychologists. Without the knowledge of Dumbledore, Tonks and a friend who had never lifted her cloak had visited Harry and talked him through the night he had lost his godfather.

She scrutinized him. "Maybe you vanquished him again. Fourth time, now."

"No, he's still out there. But I believe I have hurt him, yes."

"Keep on the good work, cadet. What do you want for dinner?" They had found their routine. When he discovered her, she would buy dinner.

"Chinese take-away? Or some curry?"

"Curry it is. Can I trust you for a second?"

"I won't run."

After a friendly dinner with Tonks, who had easily settled into the role of an older cousin for him, Harry went to bed. Would the mysterious E answer?


	2. Chapter 2

Ups, I forgot that in the first chapter. Of course, I do not own Harry Potter.

Tuesday, 14th of July

In the morning, Harry found Sylaris sitting on his window sill. Hedwig eyed the smaller owl with curiosity.

"Dear J.,

Thank you for answering me. Would you believe that you are the first human who found some words for me since Uncle Raginald finished his sermon? To set you straight, however, I am not a Slytherin. Contrary to popular believe, purebloods are found in all houses. Actually, Ravenclaw, my house, has more purebloods than Slytherin. We just aren't as vocal about it. However, if you want to know more about Slytherin House, write to D and A about it. They are there. And I am sure that they would be interested to hear from anyone, if you want to take my hint.

Now. Why do we hate muggleborns? I don't really hate muggleborns. I'm afraid of muggle borns, and sometimes muggle borns disgust me. Why am I afraid of them? Because they are the reason that a lot of muggles learn about us. I mean, look at you. Because of you, your aunt, uncle and cousin know about us. And your cousin could easily threaten someone with his or her wizard cousin. And if enough people know about us, it's pretty likely that they would decide to do something about us. If I understand correctly, there are tens of millions of muggles in Britain alone. If they learned about us, they would likely fear us. And Uncle Raginald is sure that they could decide that either killing us off or putting us into some kind of wildlife preserve would be the right thing to do. I know that not all is well in our world, but I prefer that to be shown around like some wild animal.

Now, you yourself admit that you don't know all that much about our way of life. If your parents were magical, you are one of us. And still, you won't participate in our world. Muggle borns don't understand our culture. That's fine in the beginning, because they are basically outsiders coming in. But most don't really care about our culture. They ignore it, and thus weaken our old traditions. Maybe not all old traditions are great, but there are some reasons for a lot of them. I know that the jeans (is that the right word?) you wear are a valid way to dress. But so are the robes we wear. And it is really difficult to mingle if the muggle borns put themselves aside with their clothes whenever they can, even at Hogwarts. And the worst are some of them. If you are older, you may know the Gryffindor prefect Granger. She has tried to start some movement to free house elves. Now, I know that some people will abuse their house elves. If I would try that, Uncle Raginald would likely cane me. Still. Doesn't she understand that freeing house elves would kill them? They aren't people. They are manifestations of magic, existing for a single purpose – working for us. I'm sorry, I'm on a go here. Still, I dislike people who enter my culture, don't even ask for the way we do things around here, tell me that most everything I do is wrong and that they are better than me. So, would I still dislike muggleborns if they tried to fit in? I don't think so. And at least, I would be willing to try and find them out for themselves. I don't like all purebloods, and I am sure I would still find some muggleborns disgusting, too.

Now let me take a deep breath and hope that I have not pushed you away. But you wanted to know.

What else. Are we all rich? No. But a lot of us are. Uncle Raginald is very rich, and when I marry, I will bring a lot of money into the family. Why is that? Basically, because we have been collecting our money for many generations now. We have next to no taxes in our world, especially no estate tax. And with magic, we can do most things without paying. We need some foodstuff, some raw materials for transfiguration and that's almost it. The rest we can provide for with magic. Almost all of us own a lot of land, and have rented that out to muggles. The money just keeps coming. Anyway, that's still only true for about a thousand of us all together. Not all of us are purebloods, by the way. There a several rich old families with a tendency to marry muggles or muggleborns, obviously more in Hufflepuff and Gryffindor than in Slytherin and Ravenclaw. The other pure and half bloods are well off, not so well off or downright poor. We have many artisans among us who would never be able to pay the tuition for Hogwarts if not for some wealthy patron. And then, there are those who have squandered away their wealth like the Malfoys.

Now, how do we grow up and how are we schooled? A and I have had a nanny for as long as I could think, until we began Hogwarts. We learned reading and writing and a lot of other things from her. When I got 8, we got a tutor to teach us deportment, household magic, traditions and whatever. Most weeks as children, A and I spent Monday to Friday with our nanny and our teacher. Of course, we went swimming or for walks whenever the weather was nice. I really love to swim. Uncle Raginald's house sits over a small private beach not too far from Brighton. Wednesday afternoons and Saturdays, we usually visited friends. On Sundays and in the evenings, we spent time with Uncle Raginald and Aunt Bea. What about muggles? How is their life different from ours?

To your last question, a geas is a magical obligation that your head of family, a patron or any powerful wizard could place you under. It is a magical order that you have to obey. When Uncle Raginald finished chewing us out, he told us that we were to be punished. Thus, he ordered me as our pater familias that I would not be able to speak to any wizard with blood pure more than one generation, except for him or if I were in bodily peril until the time I step on the Hogwarts Express. Now, if I were to talk to a pureblood against this geas, it would sound glibberish, and nobody would understand me. Same if I would write.

Now, it's my turn to ask.

How do muggles spend the day? What do they play with?

Is it true that muggles can destroy the world?

What have you done these holidays?

What's your favourite food? (Mine's kippers. Everyone teases me about it.)

What do you think about quiddich? I love flying and hope that I can make house team next year as a seeker.

Hope to hear from you soon,

E."

Harry smiled as he put the pages on the table of the terrace. He could not remember having received a letter as long as this in his whole life. And it was interesting. When he read about why his mysterious friend wrote about fearing muggles, it made some sense. And if he was honest with himself, the words about him and Hermione not learning about the culture they had entered stung. E might be right about that. And what was that with the Malfoys squandering their wealth? That was good to know, wasn't it? He watched as the workers carried out broken pieces of drywall and plaster from the house. They were breaking down the fireplace today. So he could sit down and answer with all the time in the world.

"Dear E.,

Your words about muggleborns not learning about magical culture sting, mostly because you are right about some things. I don't really understand how our world works. I don't understand the wizengamot, ministry policies are complete madness to me, and the less is said about our press, the better. I must admit that I have not tried to find out, though. Actually, I think I assumed that it would be basically all the same as I have learned about muggle culture in school. Nobody told me otherwise, anyway. Maybe we can find a way to change that. Do you think that we could try and establish something like partnerships? A pureblood and a muggle-raised are partnered for the first two years or so, and they try to help their partner learn about the other's culture? After all, no pureblood wizard I know can't navigate the muggle world without seeming quite mad. I understand that you will not be able to talk to any purebloods this summer, but if you think that the idea is viable, I would try my best to ensure the cooperation of most muggle borns. I don't think we want to make you angry, we just don't know better.

To answer your first question, yes, the muggles could easily destroy the whole world. As far as I know, sometime in the 60s and some years ago, they were only hours away from doing that. We have something called A-bombs. Think of them as about a billion reductos centred on a small spot. In 1945 the Americans used two of them, and destroyed two large cities in an eyelash. But the worse thing is that the bombs produce some kind of radiation that is harmful for hundreds of years. Where they hit, no human can live. And the Americans and the Russians have thousands of them, enough to make the world uninhabitable. Britain and France have several, too. But I believe that they will not use them.

Now, how do muggles spend the days? Right now, I rise at six and supervise the handymen refurbishing my uncle's house. My relatives are gone to Majorca for a holiday, and I am quite happy to see them gone. In the evenings, I watch a bit of telly. Many muggles spend hours and hours watching it. My cousin is a boxer, so he spends a lot of time at the gym, and the rest of it either hanging out with his friends or in front of the computer, shooting things up. In primary school, we spent most of the weekdays in school, and the afternoons and evenings are free time. A lot of muggle children play sports like hockey, rugby, track and field, soccer or whatever. I usually had to do quite a lot of chores around the house, like cooking, cleaning and working in the garden. I quite like gardening, and my aunt's roses are among the prettiest in the neighbourhood.

So, what have I done this summer? Basically, watched the workmen, done all my homework, read a little, watched the telly. How about you? I have spent part of a summer confined to my room and it was awful. Is there anything I could send you to amuse yourself with?

Now, my favourite foods are treackle tart in the magic world and pizza in the muggle. I like pumpkin juice and love coke. As for kippers, well, I'm not so sure...

I really, really love flying. It is the best thing ever invented. I really like quiddich, although I would be on a broom as often as possible even without it. But we are in the same situation there – you can't play as you are grounded, and I am in the muggle world. Can't play either.

Now, my questions:

Do you really think I should write to your cousins? Are they male or female, anyway? And what about?

How does the wizengamot work?

How do you spend your summers when you are not grounded?

What's that about the Malfoys?

All the best, your friend J."

Harry spent the afternoon with his books. Even though he had not felt a bit of presence of Voldemort in his head, and most aurors of Europe and America were currently in Britain to hunt him, Harry knew that it was him who was destined to fight against that abomination again. He didn't like his chances, but he had been successful before when he was even worse prepared. He would mostly have to depend on his luck, but as Hermione said – luck comes to the prepared.

"Dear Hermione,

I hope you like your holidays. How are you? I watched the forecast yesterday and it seems you have very nice weather in Hyeres. Did your mother keep her promise and force you not to take any magical books with you? If so, how did you survive so far?

I actually like Privet Drive without the Dursleys. I eat enough, have finished most homework, have spent hours with Tonks and her friend, talking about all the stuff. Voldemort still keeps his head down, with all the world hunting him.

Since yesterday, I have been in contact with some pureblood under house arrest. She sent an owl to someone who is as bored as she. I learned quite a lot of interesting things, and you might find the part of letter that I attached quite interesting. Anyway, I hope to see you soon.

Your Harry"

Actually, there were two reasons for this letter. On the one hand, Hermione had a right to hear from him, and he wanted her opinion about his mysterious pen-friend. But more important, Hedwig would be gone for two more days. He didn't want E to know that she was writing to the Boy-who-lived, and the only snowy owl in Hogwarts would broadcast that pretty clearly. However, to use another owl while Hedwig was home felt like treason, and Hedwig did not kindly to being ignored.

It was early evening and Harry watched the news when Sylaris entered into Dudley's room where he was currently bunking.

"Dear J.,

I think you will have a good laugh on my behalf, but what is a telly? Or a computer? I don't really understand what a gym is, either. And what exactly are pizza and coke?

Your uncle must be wealthy if they can go that far away. It must take awfully long, though. Did they go by steamer? I read in my muggle studies text that the muggles use them to phase out sailing ships.

Anyway, I think those are my questions for this letter. I really love the idea of a partnership. Would you consider being my partner? May I tell Uncle Raginald about this? He is quite powerful in our world, and if we really want to work on this, his support would be good.

Now, to your questions. I am sure that D and A (both girls) would love to hear from anyone at all. If you want, let them know that I'm doing ok and writing to a very nice mysterious boy. My imprisonment is actually quite comfortable, as I can read all textbooks I want (very important if you are a Ravenclaw). Apart from that, I can sit on the balcony of my room and watch out to the sea. Or write to you. Anyway, I have asked Uncle Raginald if you may send me anything. As long as it is muggle, he has no problem with that. So do your best – I'm excited what to expect.

Now, the wizengamot. You know of course that the gamot has 90 members. 50 members are from the Ancient and Noble Houses of Britain. 5 represent the ministry and the other 35 are elected from the 35 Boroughs of Britain. One of my Great-grandfathers is a Noble member, and my grandpa is the member for our Borough. The elected members are elected every five years by majority vote. After that, the wizengamot elects the minister. They decide on laws and the noble members also sit as a court of law. I think it's actually pretty straightforward. I have sent you a map with the 35 Boroughs of Britain, so you can check where you live and who is your member.

Now, how do I spend my summers? Usually, we three girls go to the beach a lot, and there are many summer parties in the halls and houses. Yesterday, I missed the Zwengen's party, one of the best every summer. There is dance, and music, and wonderful decorations. Of course, there is lots of politicking and matchmaking. I hate to think that some boys I have set my eyes on will not meet any of us three this summer.

From fifth year on, it is common to intern in one or two professions that are interesting. I think I will look into clothes design and potions the summer after next (and yes, that means I'm rising fourth year). The summer after that, maybe architecture? D was supposed to do an internship with great-grandfather. After all, she is the heiress. We also have some magical coursework to do. I am not sure if you know that pureblood houses and estates can be exempted from the decree against underage magic. And yes, that is unfair to you who can't do that. But the fear of discovery will make sure nothing will permit you to do magic.

Now, the Malfoys. Do you know Draco? He's a class A idiot. His daddy got a bit too cosy with the Death Eaters, and had to spend most of his family's fortune to stay out of Azkaban. The rest, he lost in a campaign to be elected member for Wiltshire, but he lost. As far as I know, he lived off his wife's dowry and promises until they put him into prison.

Anyway, our house-elf Skibby has just brought tea, and I hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,

E."

Harry smiled widely. Did E play the ignorant pureblood or were they really that much removed from the modern world? He quickly glanced at the watch. The stores would close in an hour. He turned off the telly, asked the owl to wait and stepped into the garden. Diligently he scanned the soil and the bushes until he found some disturbance of the soil between his roses. Confidently, he walked there.

"Tonks?"

A sudden movement made the rose bushes rustle. "Please be careful when you come out there. The bushes are not only expensive, but I have spent years pruning them to their glorious selves. Also, they have sharp thorns and might rip the cloak."

"Damn! How do you do that?"

"What?" Harry was a study in innocence.

"Find me?"

"State secret. I could tell you, but then I would have to oblivate you. And you know what happens if I do magic."

"Smarty pants. So what do you want?"

"I want to do a quick visit to the department store. Do you need to accompany me?"

"Of course I do. And we won't speak about this to Dumbledore, will we?"

"Who do you take me for?"

A bit more than two hours later, Harry sat at the table and composed a letter.

"Dear E.,

I am not quite sure if you are kidding me or if you really don't know about us. I have on book here for you with some technical explanations for children. It might help you to understand how they work. A telly or TV is a machine that shows films, basically moving pictures. They can show most anything, for example drama, or a person reading the news or a talk show where people discuss a topic. It is kind of like the wireless, but with pictures. A computer is a machine that can calculate very fast, several million times faster than a human could. You can use it to solve huge calculations, to write and process texts, and they have produced programs with which you can play, like shooting up space aliens (don't ask me...), driving a car (a huge machine muggles use to go from one place to another, building a city or whatever. If the explanations are too simple for you, write to me and I will try to find a book with more technical information.

Now, my relatives are not really rich. Upper middle class, I would guess. And they went to Majorca using an airplane. When you look up to the sky, you sometimes see small machines flying there, usually with long white lines behind them. Actually, they are really huge, but fly some miles high. With them, muggles reach Majorca or the Canary Islands in a few hours time. It's not that expensive, either. You can go there for something like 50 galleons. I myself have not been on an airplane so far, but a friend of mine uses one almost every holidays with her parents. She tells me it's quite like riding the knight bus, only more sedate.

Also, I bought you something. Again, I am not really sure if it is age-appropriate. How long do girls play with dolls? Anyway, I went to the store downtown and ask the sales lady that I have a girl pen friend somewhere where our western culture has not really reached so far. And that I wanted to send you something that represents our culture in one piece. So, I give you Malibu Barbie and hope I have not offended you too deeply. Maybe next summer, we can visit the store together...

Anyway, pizza is an Italian food. You take a thin loaf of dough and put tomatoes, cheese and ham, salami or whatever you like on it, then place it in the oven. Coke is a sugary, fizzy drink with caffeine, kind of like ultra-sweet coffee with gas. Again, when you are free again, I'll invite you to pizza with coke if you promise that you don't invite me to kipper.

Now, your explanation about the wizengamot was very clear. However, I don't understand about the 35 Boroughs. As far as I can see, I don't live in one. Don't I have a vote then (or would if I were of age?)

I really love the idea about the internships. Again, they are for purebloods only, aren't they? If not, how does one get a internship? If we can get some partnerships running for next year at Hogwarts, I will of course be your partner. Please talk to your uncle about it.

Hope to hear from you soon,

J."

Please review!


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own Harry Potter

Wednesday, 15th of July

"Dear J.,

Thank you for your letter and your presents. The doll is wonderful. You didn't have to raid your Gringotts dungeon to give such an expensive present to me. I really shall reimburse you for these costs. Barbie is a strange name for a doll. But she will definitely have a place of honour on my shelf. (By the way, if anyone asks, I have not played with dolls four years now – no self-respecting girl over 12 would let herself be caught dead playing with dolls. That's why A and I always lock the door when we play with them...) I have five dolls, one from Mum, one as a present from grandpa when I turned four, a cute negro doll I got when I showed my first sign of magic at six, one I got for my ninth birthday, and now your Barbie. I really can't wait to show her to A. Maybe I will spend some time to sew some dresses for her, like a mannequin. I'm ranting. Again: Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I have also spent some time reading your book. Actually, when Uncle Raginald came in, I was so engrossed that I didn't notice him at first. He's really happy that I have found someone to write to. And he will promote our idea. He's on the board of governors of Hogwarts and will see that it will be introduced in time for September. Would you be willing to organise this program with me?

I have also asked Uncle Raginald concerning the internships. There is no limit to purebloods, but usually they are only offered from friends or family to the students. However, if you've done your OWLs and interested in foreign trade, he has offered to take you as an intern for August. Maybe we could meet then? What are you interested in doing after Hogwarts?

But before that, I think it is time to tell you why we have been grounded for this summer. D's punished for supporting Undersecretary Umbridge. She was not member of the inquisition, but she supported them. (If she had been, Uncle Raginald would have married her off by now, I guess. He was so angry!) A and I are because we did not honour family. We have a second cousin, also in Ravenclaw, who was quite mercilessly teased by the girls in her year. And we did nothing against it, even though we knew. It took Harry Potter himself to help her. Cho – our sixth year prefect – had to call the house together and told us that he would curse anyone who didn't show her the proper respect next year. I guess Luna will be treated like a princess next year. But you are a Gryffindor – do you know if Cho really goes steady with him?

Anyway, the Boroughs. If you don't live in one, you can't vote. They made these up when we started our hiding and established one for every region where we wizards went. And if I think about it, yes, that means that basically most muggleborns can't vote.

Anyway, enough social gossip. Uncle Raginald decided that our friends don't seem like a good influence for us, thus we need to talk to others. Have you written to A and D so far?

All the best,

Your E."

"Dear Harry,

Wish you were here. Mum really didn't allow me to bring any books on magic. So I have to lie in the sun, swim, play a bit of tennis in the mornings. I have also started scuba diving lessons. It is so amazing to float in the water without any weight. I imagine that's the way you feel on your broom! Yesterday, I saw a turtle. They are supposed to be really seldom seen in the Mediterranean Sea.

We have been on a visit to St. Tropez where I ran into the most unlikely persons – Fleur Delacour with her little sister. They live in the country, and we have been invited for dinner tonight. It seems that Gabrielle wants to hear some stories of her great hero. Fleur was completely functional in the mundane world. (Well except for the men around her. Even Dad acted a bit mad.) Both ask to send you greetings and tell you to visit when you come to France.

You sound quite happy with these bastards on Majorca. How is your pureblood friend? Can you tell her that I would like to talk to her about house elves? And am I really that bad? I had a long talk with Mum and Dad about cultural relativity and the relative superiority of cultures and the importance of tolerance.

Anyway, write back if you can. I will report on the Delacours in my return letter.

Love,

Hermione"

"Dear Hermione,

Give my best to the two of them and tell Gabrielle that if she ever needs another rescue, she should call for Super-Harry. I hope you had fun there. Maybe Fleur could talk to you about your philosophical notions? She looks much too stunning, but from what I saw of her, she does have quite some brains in that pretty head. And she didn't seem as bigot as our crop of purebloods.

My pureblood friend has sent me some very interesting information on our culture, and I really need to talk to you about that. Have been discussing quite a lot with Tonks, but I still miss my brains. If you want to talk to a British witch, why don't you write to E's cousin D.? She seems to be our age, and is Slytherin. According to E., she should be happy about any kind of conversation, even if it is only with a Gryffindor.

Love,

Harry."

"Dear E.,

I'm not sure what expense you are talking about. The Barbie I bought you costs about three galleons. They sell them by the hundreds in department stores all over Britain. They also sell all kinds of clothing and accessories for her. I put a catalogue into the envelope. If you want something, please tell me what you need.

Anyway, I will try my very best to organise the partnerships with you. If your uncle would really be willing, I would love to try this internship. But first, I would need a little bit more information about how it is done, what obligations I would have and how much time it would take.

As for Harry Potter, I don't know him all that well. I don't really understand the hype you wizards make off him. One day he's the saviour of the world, and the next day he is some kind of villain. But I can assure you that he is not going with Cho. From what I heard, they had one date, which was a disaster. He's quite single as far as I know.

After Hogwarts, I am not yet sure what I want to do. As everyone, I dream of playing quiddich professionally, and as all Gryffindors, I have long thought of becoming an auror. Now, I am not so sure. I really know too little about the choices I have, and I fear that I have not really done too well academically.

Anyway, I have not yet written to your cousins, but I have a friend who might be interesting to talk to D. She does not have an owl, though. Could you organise to send two owls to me next time, so I could forward one to my friend?

By the way, how many wizards are there in Britain and how are they divided between purebloods and muggleborn? And do really all of them go to Hogwarts? When I saw how many people were there at the World Cup, I can't believe they all went to Hogwarts, Beauxbattons and Durmstrang.

Love,

J."

"Dear A, cousin of E.,

You don't know me, but your cousin has told me that you, your sister and E have each been sequestered to your own room and might be happy to hear from the outside world. Is there anything you would like to talk about?

The mysterious muggle-raised J."

"Harry,

Just to let you know we are still alive. I really hate You-Know-Where. Listen, mate, we found Sirius' will among his things. It's sealed of course, and we are pretty sure that you are the one who can open it. Mum wanted to give it to Dumbledore, but the twins have it now and will give it to you as soon as you come here.

Anyway, hope to see you soon.

Ron."

"Dear Ron,

Thank you three. I really don't know who's worse off – Durskaban or You-Know-Where... If my lovely relatives could spend some more weeks in the South, I would think of inviting you there.

All the best, Harry."


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the late update, but our little son really takes away all of my free time. And, by the way, I do not own Harry Potter.

Thursday, 16th of July

"Sir,

I thank you for your letter and for the information that my cousin is well. Luckily, someone is a much better friend than I deserve and has organised that I am not quite as isolated as E might think I am, so I am not in dire need of rescue, having found some correspondents on my own. But if I may ask this favour of you, please tell my cousin that I am well and that we will have much to discuss when we see each other again.

Kindest regards,

A, cousin of E."

"Dear J,

I think that a doll of similar quality would cost at least some hundred galleons in our world. And the catalogue is even greater. Imagine, so many dresses for one kind of doll! Maybe we should start a company and sell muggle toys. I'm sure they would find a huge market, if we don't stress their origin too much. It might be a lot less risky than being an auror. And I don't think that playing quidditch professionally is as interesting as you muggle born think. Actually, it is mostly done by rich youths who don't need to work for money, but want to earn a little bit of fame for a later political career.

Still, if you can get a place on the House team, you should be able to do some seasons. Usually, they try to collect at least half of the house teams for the professional teams. Although it would help you to have some connections.

Anyway. Harry Potter is sacer. It's an old Latin expression and means holy as well as cursed. The ministry blew him up to almost divine class in the eighties. Did you know that they tried to change Halloween into Harry Potter Day? And if you see what he has done in his life, he is pretty amazing. Killed the Dark Lord when he was a baby, Heir of Slytherin, youngest house player in a century with a great record, youngest Triwizard winner ever, fought the Dark Lord twice and lived to tell about it. So, one could say that he has some right to be as arrogant as he is. They say he petrified a boy in his second year because he annoyed him. The younger Slytherins only travel in groups so that he doesn't curse them, although D says that doesn't make sense. He would be able to put a whole group down without breaking into sweat. And he only talks to his selected circle of friends. Really, could you imagine him writing to a poor imprisoned little pureblood like me?

With Sylaris, I have sent Don, Uncle Raginald's owl. She can take a letter to your friend and then back to D. Thanks in advance.

Now, population. As far as Uncle Raginald knows, there are some 25.000 witches and wizards in Britain. Of them, there are some 1.000 members of the Ancient and Noble Houses and their extended families. Quite a few of us are at Hogwarts, others, especially the druidic families, keep their kids at home. Some 10.000 are poor and live in some enclaves like Mora or Avalon, working the land and earning about enough to survive. They usually can't afford to send people to the better schools and tend to school their kids at home or in some rural cooperatives. Then there are another 10.000 or so of the artisan and administrative class. The richer will try to send their kids to Hogwarts, too. The others have to make do with the smaller, less important schools. The other 4.000 or so are muggleborn or in other ways removed from society. You would belong to that group, most likely. They are either not schooled at all or at the minor schools. Only those who caught the eye of important people or who are really, really smart are admitted to Hogwarts.

Hogwarts really is the school in Britain. There has not been a minister of magic who didn't visit Hogwarts, and most higher members in the wizengamot and the ministry are from there. We are the only school to teach NEWT classes, too. The others are just not that big and not that good, they have one or two teachers, and twenty students.

Uncle Raginald has just come in and wants me to come. Hear from you soon!

Love, E."

"What's up, Harry?"

"Oh, hi Tonks. How are you?"

"Quite good. And you? You look a little shell-shocked. Did she send nude pictures?"

Harry handed her the letter. She read through it and nodded thoughtfully. "Dear me. Quite some bully you are, eh? Who was that poor little guy?"

"Collin Crevey. And even if he deserved being petrified, I didn't do it. It were Ginny and Blink."

"Blink?"

"The name Ron and I gave to that damn basilisk in the Chamber. It fits, doesn't it."

Tonks rolled her eyes. "And then you wonder that you are considered arrogant? What kind of guy calls the most deadly snake in the world Blink?"

"Now come on, Tonks, they are just misunderstood, poor little critters."

"Sometimes you scare me, Harry."

"If I had only thought about it in time. I'm a parselmouth. I could have just asked it to be a nice little monster. It would have obeyed me, killed that damn Riddle book and showed me to Slytherin's lair where I would have found out that he was just a poor, misunderstood little guy, too. Would have given me the ultimate weapon against Voldemort, too, and named me his heir – in a good way of course. Then, we goblins would declare me to be the long lost son of the goblin king, making me their leader, and Snape would finally be found out to be my Mum."

The young auror fought her giggles and finally sat down. "Maybe you should consider a career in writing, my friend."

"No necessary. I would have become filthy rich with being Slytherin's heir and all that."

"True. And of course, you would have started your own harem, with me as your first wife."

Harry slowly let his eyes wander over her. Well, she had ordered him to become more secure among women, and if she killed him, he could tell her I told you so. "Well, maybe not first wife, but..."

"Think before you say one more word, pal!"

"If you insist. Of course, you would have become my first wife, oh beautiful, wise and old auror lady."

"Oh come on, Harry." They both broke down in giggles.

When they had calmed down a bit, Harry shook his head. "Honestly? If you were five years younger than you are, I might just think about it."

"That's so very nice of you. Don't take it in a bad way, but if you were some years older, you might just have a chance."

"Cheers. Anyway, do you think I am arrogant?"

"Not at all. Least arrogant guy I met. She's still right, though. You have every right to be arrogant. And I can imagine that someone who doesn't know you all that well would believe you arrogant. I mean, until the DA, you basically kept to yourself, Hermione and the Weasleys, didn't you? Most likely because you were too shy, but those who wouldn't know that..."

"Not too good if I want to unite our world against Voldemort, is it?"

"No. But I think that you are changing. Even if you don't want to hear it, it's called growing up. And you are growing into a fine young man, Harry."

Harry snorted. "Thanks. Now, what do I do with her?" He pointed to the letter.

"You always bitch that these people don't see you, but only Harry bloody Potter. Now you have a girl that really likes you and hates Harry bloody Potter, and still you complain." Tonks grinned.

"But what do I do?"

"Listen to old Tonks and go shopping for Barbie dresses."


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own Harry Potter. But you knew that.

Friday, 17th of July

"Dear Harry,

Hedwig is really the best owl in the world. I hope you tell her that every day. Gabrielle believes she is an enchanted princess, bewitched to watch over you. She's quite jealous of her.

I have a great time with the Delacours. After our dinner, they have invited us to stay with them. They have a really beautiful maison directly in the hills with a wonderful terrace looking over the bay. I have followed your advice and spent a lot of time with Fleur. She is much smarter than she looks. I'm really learning tons of new things, and I don't even know where to start. Concerning house-elves, I will close SPEW first thing when we return to Hogwarts. Where did I have my head?

Anyway, Mum and Dad hit off with Armand and Apolline. Mum and Apolline like the same classical music, and Armand and Dad spend every waking moment on the golf course. Today, we three girls went diving with gillyweed. If scuba gear is great, gillyweed is a league of its own. But I imagine that the Mediterranean is a nicer place to dive than the Black Lake.

Fleur holds you in high regards and has cordially invited you to visit whenever you want. She has finished her year at Gringotts and will start in her grandfather's investment company this fall. Also, she is thinking of a career in muggle fashion.

So, how is your mysterious girlfriend?

Hope to hear from you soon,

Love, Yourmione."

Harry rolled his eyes. If he wanted to get together with his best friend, he would have to act soon. Or so Tonks hat told him. And when he tried to apply her principles, she was likely right. But did he want to? He was a boy. She was a girl, a damn pretty one at that. They did great together, and they complemented well. Still, there was nothing sparkly between them. Oh yes, he could imagine Hermione to be his wife, forcing him to become all he could be, and he forcing her to have a little fun now and then with him and their kids. Still, he couldn't really picture her in bed with him.

"My dear Mymione,

Hedwig will always be my number one girl (sorry about that, but she has the oldest rights). Actually, she is a princess, but don't tell Gabrielle. I really would love to someday go down to France and visit the places you tell me about. It must be great to have these warm summer nights on the beach. Maybe when my little dark problem is solved.

Anyway, I have learned lots from E. Did you know that it's possible to intern during the summer? You just need a patron who will give you the right connections. D's father seems to be the one to talk to. (I would recommend Mr. Malfoy, but then maybe not, seeing he's in prison now) Anyway, maybe we should look for a placement next summer. Have you received the owl for your letter to D? I might have an internship with E's Uncle Raginald for August if we like each other. Also, I have heard some things about the wizengamot that will leave you exploding. We'll talk about that after you returned.

Give all my best to your parents and the Delacour girls.

Your Harry."

"Dear E.,

Today I had a whole day of gardening. It was really high time to prune the roses, and the lawn needed moving. Do you do such chores or are they usually done by elves? If you are interested in gardening, do you usually have plants like we learn about in herbology or do you have roses and other normal plants? My uncle and cousin couldn't garden to save their lives, but my aunt is actually quite good. To me, muggle gardening helps me think. I don't really like herbology though, because it's very difficult to relax with the plants trying to kill you in so many different ways.

By the way, what subjects do you like best at Hogwarts? I am quite partial to Defence, but I like transfiguration and care, too. I absolutely hate potions, history and divination. Actually, I hate Snape, Binns and Trelawny. Potions and history could be quite interesting if we had better teachers. Couldn't your uncle get them fired?

Do wizards tend to go on holidays with their families? Are there holiday resorts for purebloods?

Anyway, for your entertainment, I have bought two outfits for your Barbie. It's quite testing to go into a shop as a boy and just buy doll-stuff. Got some very curious looks.

The house is slowly getting back into shape. I guess that in a week or so it will look quite good.

Sorry for the short letter today, but I'm quite tired.

More soon,

J."

Saturday, 18th of July

"Dear J,

We had a very interesting visitor yesterday, my cousin Luna. It seems she has learned about A's and my imprisonment, and she came here pleading for us. Now, Uncle Raginald has lifted my house arrest, but not the geas. So if you would agree, I could visit you.

Also, our family will host a summer party next week. It might not be quite politically correct for a girl to ask out a boy, but I would like you to accompany me to that ball. We might not have seen each other yet, but I really like you, J, and as we have already agreed to be partners for our program next year, it is only fair to go there together. We will, of course, be going as friends.

I have thought pretty long if I should add this, but I think you have a right to know something important about me. I told you that my parents are dead. My father died in Azkaban two years after Harry Potter killed the Dark Lord. He was serving life for several murders as a Death Eater. I was conceived when Mum visited him, and she committed suicide when he died. My other family has never supported Voldemort as far as I know. Our gamots have just spoken to give more money to the aurors to fight him.

Dear J, if you don't want to write to a murderer's daughter any more, I will understand. But I felt dishonest not to tell you, as you most likely lost your parents to my father's gang. Maybe even to him. And you should know this about me before you decide if you want to invite me to your home or come to us.

Really hoping to hear from you soon,

E."

Harry took a deep breath. Damn! Why wasn't Hermione there? He sat up, turned off the TV and stepped out into the garden.

"Tonks? I need to talk to you."

The air in front of him flirred for a second, then the young auror stood in front of him.

"Read this, please." He handed her the letter.

She read through it, then she smiled. "You got yourself a girlfriend, Harry. Way to go!"

"Nymphadora..." he patted his foot on the soil.

"I would venture to guess that this little girl is Ernestina de Bokken, the granddaughter of William Greengrass. D and A are Daphne and Astoria Greengrass then. Raginald is about the only pureblood who still talks to mum. He's a client of Dad's. Your friend's father was a sickening bastard who makes Uncle Lucius look like the philanthropist he wanted to look like. I studied his case in auror school. He was into little girls, raped them, killed them, and not in a nice way. So what do you want to do?"

"Ask you what I should do?"

"And concerning E.?"

Harry shook his head. "Ron would tell me not to admit ever writing to her. Hermione would most likely channel Dumbledore about second chances and all that."

"Second chances?"

Harry stopped for a second. "All right, first chances. She hasn't done anything to me yet. But dare I trust her?"

"I can't really help you there. But this letter sounds like a little girl who is afraid that she loses someone because of something a man she has never met has done."

"Should I invite her here, first?"

Tonks stepped up to a rose bush and broke off one half opened flower. "White roses indicate a offer of friendship." She performed a little preservation spell. "Why don't you invite her here for the day after tomorrow? You could try and spend a muggle day. Then, you decide if you want to continue with her or not.

"Dear Ernestina,

At least I guess that this is your name. I have been spending a wonderful week of this summer writing to a nice girl who was as bored and fed up as I am. I don't want to lose the friendship we have built this week, regardless of who her father might have been. You can be sure that my parents were not killed by him, the three persons responsible for their death have never been prosecuted.

If you can, why don't you visit me the day after tomorrow? The small token in this letter will work as a portkey to my uncle's house. A friend helped me there. To start, please say "Activate" sometime the day after tomorrow after 9 am. If you want to bring a chaperone, please feel free to do so. However, we will be watched by an adult witch, so nothing untoward will happen.

Then, we can decide what we will do concerning the ball. I can't dance, but I swear I will treat you better than my last date. (she would have been well within her rights to grievously harm me, at least).

All the best,

J – You'll only find out who I am if you use the rose."

Sunday, 19th of July

"Dear J,

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll be at your house tomorrow and bring Uncle Raginald for a moment.

Love, Ernie"

"Dear Harry,

Hermione say that you live with bad uncle and awnt. If you need help, we will help you.

Gabrielle"

"Dear Harry,

It seems my little sister tries to save you from the big bad muggles and wizards in Britain. Yesterday, she tried to bring my great-granduncle to organise a troop to bring you to France or another civilised nation (he's head of Law Enforcement for the European Community). Would you terribly mind to write her a few sentences to assure her you are well? If you are not, tell me or Hermione, and we will send a European auror team to get you out. By the way, I have not heard anything about the next Triwizard Tournament? When will it take place?

Best from your contestant

Fleur Delacour"

"Dear Gabrielle, dear Fleur,

I can assure you that right now I am spending the best summer I have ever spent at Privet Drive. There is absolutely no need to send in a rescue team. Thank you very much for spending some time with Hermione. She needs someone to help her understand our world better. She has conveyed your invitation to me, and as soon as I find a way to leave Britain, I will make sure to visit you first.

Gabrielle, are you going to start at Beauxbatton this year? What are you going to do, Fleur? And why do you ask me about the Triwizard Tournament?

All the best from

Your friend Harry."

"Neville,

Can you tell me something about the Greengrass family? It seems I have been writing half the summer with one of their nieces, and I would like to know more about them. Raginald Greengrass has invited me for an internship with his company. Do you think I should accept? Anyway, how are your greenhouses doing? Did you have time yet to repair your grandfather's glasshouse? And what plants did you find?

Harry"


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own Harry Potter.

This chapter does not contain a single letter. I am not sure if this is good or not.

It was another morning, and Harry Potter sat in the garden, eating a sandwich Tonks had brought him. She was sitting next to him in muggle clothing. "When they arrive, you will first greet Mr. Greengrass, then you take her hand and kiss it."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Really, Tonks..."

"Yes, really, Harry."

The air in front of them flirred, and a man in a morning suit and a girl appeared. They both stayed on their feet easily, and Harry had a few moments to scrutinize them. The man was tall and lean, with short cropped dark blond hair and sharp eyes that scanned the surroundings out of his clean shaven face. The girl turned to Harry. He was sure that he had seen her before at school. She was a bit taller than he, slightly built. Her long dark blond hair was bound in a pony tail, and she wore summer dress with long white stockings and black shiny shoes, looking a bit like Alice in Wonderland. She turned to him, and her blue eyes widened. "No."

Harry had risen to his feet and stretched out his hand to the man. "Mr. Greengrass? My name is Harry Potter. I would like to welcome you and your ward to my uncle's house."

The man hesitated for a second, before a smile crept across his face. "Mr. Potter. I am pleased to meet you. May I introduce your pen-friend, my niece Ernestina?"

Harry took a step towards the frozen girl, took her hand and brushed his lips against it. "Hi, Ernie."

The girl shook her head. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You are J? Could someone please kill me now?"

"And leave me without a partner this September?" Then, Harry returned to the program he had rehearsed with Tonks. "May I introduce auror Tonks, my bodyguard?"

Mr. Greengrass bowed slightly. "Enchanted, auror."

"Mr. Greengrass." Tonks had risen, too, and nodded her head.

"Would you like to take a seat? A drink?"

Mr. Greengrass sat down next to Tonks, while Ernestina still stood motionless, her eyes flashing from Harry to her uncle to Tonks and then back to Harry.

"And I thought that you would like to try a coke, E."

She took a deep breath. "You must think me a brute and an idiot."

Harry shook his head. "Not at all. Tonks told me that your characterisation of Harry Potter was, even though not the whole truth, at least very perceptive. Come on, take a seat and a coke."

The girl obeyed. The blood that had deserted her face moments ago flushed back. "Thank you, and I apologize..."

"There is nothing to apologize for, Ernie." He opened a bottle of coke and filled four glasses, distributing them to his guests and raising his. "Cheers."

Mr. Greengrass took a sip, then swallowed and nodded. "Interesting taste. A bit sweet for my taste, but it could be a hit with children."

Harry turned to his guest and was rewarded with a hesitant smile. "I like it. Thank you for having me here."

Harry smiled. "You are the first guest I have ever invited over. Thank you for coming to visit me." For a few moments, they sat in silence, not quite uncomfortable, then Mr. Greengrass drank his last coke and rose.

"Auror Tonks, I shall leave my ward in your hands. Mr. Potter, if it is agreeable, I shall return at four p.m. to pick up Ernestina. Maybe we can find some time to chat, then."

Harry came to his feet and bowed slightly. "May I invite you two for dinner, then, Sir?"

The man hesitated, looked at the house, then nodded slightly. "Thank you for your invitation. We will make the time." Then, after a last small bow, he turned, went out into the garden and disapparated.

"I really wish I could do that." Harry sighed.

"You will learn next year. It's not all that difficult." There was a bit of smugness in Ernestina's voice. "Uncle Raginald showed me last summer." Then, her eyes shot to Tonks.

The auror scratched her ear and grinned. "Sorry, it seems I had some ringing in my ear for a moment. I'm not on auror duty here, Ms de Bokken, but as a friend of Harry's. And I don't know anyone growing up in our world who didn't learn apparating while underage. It's not difficult."

"Unfair!"

"Sure. So there's something that Harry Potter can't do?"

Harry scowled. "Lots of things. And for you, I am J."

"Sure, J. Now, what have you planned for today? Will I see cars? And barbies? Uncle Raginald has given me a thousand pounds. Is that much money?"

Tonks grinned. "That depends. But I am sure it is enough."

Harry nodded. "I've never had a thousand pounds. You could buy dozens of Barbies for that money. Now, would you like to see a muggle house?" He rose and led his guest into Privet Drive 4. "As far as I know, our house is quite a good example for a muggle middle class house. He led her through the hallway into the open area behind. "This used to be my uncle's living room, and over there was the kitchen. Now, my aunt wants an open space with the kitchen connected to the living room area. There wasn't much to see except for the ladders and materials of the decorators. "They have thrown out most furniture, and the rest is in storage, so there is not all that much to see, actually. On the right is the guest lavatory, and now we go upstairs." Dudley's room was still mostly complete, and Harry led her into it.

"Now, this is a TV or telly." He switched it on, and was rewarded with a surprised grasp when some cartoon with green turtles flickered over the screen.

"Actually, it's not that far removed from WWN, when you think about it. Only with pictures."

Ernestina scrutinized Tonks. "Harry has sent me a book about muggle technology. I understand how it works, but still, it's different in real life." Tentatively, she took the remote control from Harry's hand. "If I press a button, some invisible beam shoots to the telly and tells it what to do?"

Harry looked to Tonks, who shrugged. "Infrared, I think. Yes, that's about right."

Ernestina switched some channels and found the volume control. After she had turned the sound louder and mute, she turned to Harry again. "May I try something?"

"Be my guest."

She gave him a strange glance. "We really need to talk about our culture later." Then she grabbed the remote with thumb and two fingers, as if it was a wand and swished into the direction of the screen, her eyes closed in concentration. Harry held his breath. Hermione had warned him against catastrophic failures when magic and technology met, but nothing happened.

She opened her eyes, scrutinised the screen and shrugged. "Didn't work. I had some theories I wanted to test, but they are now falsified."

Harry took back the remote from her hands and switched it off. "Is there anything else I can show you right now?" She shook her head.

"In that case, why don't we go to town?"

Both females eagerly agreed, which – looking back – should have given Harry some idea that he was looking at a day rapidly approaching meltdown. Tonks led the teenagers out of the house and to the next bus stop to Greater Whinning, where some investor had opened an American style shopping centre. While they were walking down the road, several eyes followed them. Tonks turned to Ernestina. "When someone asks you about your clothes, tell them you are into retro."

"What is retro?"

"I will tell you later, but basically, your dress is severely out of fashion. Something we will remedy."

At the bus stop, Ernestina turned to Harry. Her eyes moved up and down his body several times, and she seemed to start to speak, but turned away again. Then, with eyes downcast, she stuttered. "I am sorry. I am behaving like a boor."

Harry had been a little disappointed that the pretty girl who was supposed to be his pen friend was mainly talking to his body guard. Now seemed the right moment to restart their conversation. "In the interest of my wizard studies, but why exactly do you apologize?"

He seemed to have found the right answer, because the girl looked up to him and smiled. "You have invited me to your home, knowing that I had written some not all that flattering words about you. Then you accept my apology for that, and instead of concentrating on you, I look at muggle technology and talk to Ms Tonks. In polite society, we should have talked about the weather for two hours, about our health for another hour, before we should have gone to more substantial affairs."

Harry grinned. "You will have to show me how that is done. But now, I will show you that I can be much more boorish than you and allow for three direct questions that I will answer without holding back."

Her eyes gleamed. "They will have to be carefully chosen, gracious Sir."

"Take your time." Harry led her into the bus, and Tonks paid their fare. She sat down next to him, and for the first time he had seen her this morning, a smile crossed over her face. "I need to put them as broad as I can. Who knows when I will have this chance again?"

Harry groaned. "Later today, if you want. But I will have my price. One answer for an answer."

"Fair. Why were you the one that Sylaris considered as fed up and bored as I was?"

Harry smiled and evaded. "Hey, I don't understand Hedwig, how can I understand your owl? Honestly? Because I was. I am here, with little communication, and out there, a war is going on. The long story is going to cost you, so I won't count this as a question."

" So, why are you the heir of Slytherin?"

Harry shot a helpless glance to Tonks, but she was standing a bit too far away to hear their conversation. He hesitated for a moment. "To the best of my knowledge, I am not. The only heir of Slytherin I know is..." He shot her a sharp glance. It wouldn't do to have her faint in the bus. But her face showed that she had understood anyway.

They sat in silence for a moment while she processed this information. They she turned to him again. "Why don't you answer fan-mail?"

"First, because I don't have fans, and second because I have never received any fan mail. And because it would be rather ridiculous." He raised his eyebrows.

"I am pretty sure that you should receive quite a lot of fan mail. I for myself have sent you three birthday letters when I was home-taught. And you really never received any?"

Harry shook his head. "I won't count that as a third question. But no. I have only received letters from my friends, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid and your cousin Astoria, yeah, that's it. Oh, wait, there was this letter from Gabrielle. Well, that was a fan-letter, but I answered that."

"You forgot me."

"Didn't." Harry and Tonks had spent more than a few hours of this summer talking about the mysterious species called witches. He still was not sure if Tonks' ideas really were good, but here was a pretty young witch who was more interested in him than in the Boy-Who-Lived, and maybe this was the right time to try out some of the super-secret hints she had given him. She had given them with regard to Hermione, but he somehow had the feeling that this Ravenclaw and his best friend were not all that different. The smile that blossomed on her lips – quite full, pretty lips, with a hint of lipstick, now that he thought about it – convinced him that he would buy the next dinners for his bodyguard.

Again, silence reigned for a moment while Ernestina thought. "I'm not sure if this is a question to Harry Potter or to J., but maybe they can consult. Why did you say you were interested in an internship with my uncle?"

Harry looked at her. "Because he is the first one to volunteer something like that to me. And also because I saw this as a way to get to know you." He looked up. "We need to get out the next stop."

"A way to get to know me? Why?"

Harry had seen this question coming. Yes, he was definitely buying dinner for the next weeks. "That's question number four." He led her out of the bus.

"There are so many people." Harry did his best to act nonchalant, but he felt the same way. Diagon Alley was small, and it sometimes seemed rather crowded with a hundred or so witches and wizards around. But here, on a usual Monday, there were a few hundred people looking for the first offers of Summer Sale. Harry had never been taken shopping, so he did not navigate the crowd with the same sense of entitlement that a normal muggle teen would, but he could easily see what shocked his visitor. "Let's go inside." They went into the monstrous enormity of concrete and glass, directly into the front of a large clothing store. Ernestina stopped in the middle of the way, and Harry had to pull her to the side. She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, her eyes had a new, calculating look. She went to one display and casually counted the items there. Then, her head moved slowly around, counting and calculating. "There are some two thousands of upper garments in this store."

Harry nodded, not really wanting to point out that the store had two more levels and most likely a full storage area. But Ernestina was not looking at him, her fingers were stroking a cashmere pullover. "How much is this?"

Harry looked at the price. "thirty-nine pounds, about eight galleons, I would think."

She stared at him and then at the tag. "Impossible."

Harry was surprised by her vehemence. "Why should that be?"

"Because just the production, even with magical means, would cost two or three hundred."

"Excuse me?"

"I will tell you later. Now, I need a sales-person. I want one of them for myself. She will take my measurements."

"You should be a medium, sweety." A sales-woman had picked up her last question. "But if you want to try it on, the changing booths are over there."

Tonks stepped between them. "Thank you." When the sales-woman turned away again, the auror smiled. "There might be a cultural divide here. In this shop, you will not get fitted. These clothes come in several sizes, and you pick the one that fits you best. Come with me. You too, Harry."

Ernestina ended up using almost a quarter of her money in this store alone, and Harry was reduced to the thing any young man will be when he shops with women – he was carrying bags. And then, there was the toy store. The girl gave a loud squeal when she saw collection of dolls, stuffed animals and plastic toys. It took Harry and Tonks more than an hour to finally drag her to the cashier. She pouted impishly when he could not carry everything and took two bags on her own. "So, you promised me pizze."

"Pizza, actually." They left the mall and Tonks used a corner to shrink all except two bags, then led them to an Italian restaurant a few hundred yards away. They found a table by the window, and his pen-friend sat down next to Harry. Her eyes were gleaming, when her hand quickly caught his, pinning it to the table. "You really know how to spoil a girl, Harry." Mirth sprouted from her face. "Maybe I will have Uncle Raginald enter negotiations with you." When Harry did not really react – mostly because he did not really understand what she was talking about – she took a deep breath. "Really, Harry. It was a wonderful morning with you, even if I did not really show it."

"That's ok, Ernie."

"Not really. But before we start, what do we eat?"

Tonks shrugged. "Hungry?"

"Enough to eat a hippogriff."

"Then you will have the vitello tonato, a pizza with ham and greens, and a coke. Make that a diet coke."

"Whatever." She turned back to him. It was a nice feeling, actually. Here was a smart, rather pretty Ravenclaw girl who seemed to have eyes mostly for him. Well, he came a distant second to shopping, but how could he compete? "Harry?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think I would have paid for my purchases in our world?"

"No idea, actually."

"Neither have I. Most of the things would be pretty much invaluable, there." She pulled out the pullover she had bought first while Tonks ordered their lunch. "See this?"

Harry did. It was a cashmere pullover in a medium blue which complimented her eyes and – he had to admit it – her form. "What exactly?"

She led his hand to stroke the fabric. "It's knitted, not woven. And very finely, too." That was true, but he still failed to see her point.

"It would take a tailor of Madam Malkin's about four days to produce such a pullover, and most likely the quality would be far from this. You might be able to educate some elves to do such fine knitting, but that would be even more expensive. At a rough guess, such a pullover would be about three or four hundred galleons. And they had some forty of them in six different colours, and they sold it for 8! How many sets of clothes do muggles have?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really know. Most? Some twenty to forty, I would guess. Girls, maybe more. Aunt Petunia has three wardrobes full of clothes. Uncle Vernon has maybe six suits and ten or fifteen outfits. Dudley, maybe fifty?"

Ernestina nodded. "I'm rather rich. I have four sets of everyday robes, two dress robes that have been made for summer, one set of flying robes, two nightgowns and some warm underwear. A few knitted pullovers and six skirts." When Harry did not really react, she rolled her eyes. "Your friends, the Weasleys, have maybe two sets of clothes each, altogether."

Harry nodded. "Yes, they are rather poor."

Ernestina stared at him. "Poor?" She took a deep breath. "Their father is a rather high positioned department head. I would guess that not more than twenty of the staff earn much more." Total lack of comprehension forced her to go on. "Of course, many ministry personal have some riches of their own and are not dependent on their wages."

"But why do they own so little, then?"

"Hogwarts, basically. The tuition is very expensive. And then, they have all boys, so they will have to hold back some money to buy them suitable wives."

"Why should they buy wives? I mean, there are lots of girls around." He was saved from finishing his sentence by the starter.

Tonks shook her head. "You two do remember that we are in a muggle environment, don't you?."

"So sorry, Tonks."

Ernestina took a fork of boiled veal in tuna sauce and ate it with relish. "That's good." It seemed no hardship for her at all to talk about the food, the weather and her purchases for the whole lunch without getting boring.

It was almost three when they arrived back in Little Whinning. Harry had bought food for a cookout, and a discreet feather light charm from Tonks helped him carry his lot. They had just sat down on the terrace when Raginald Greengrass reappeared. "So, did you have a nice day?"

Ernestina nodded. "More interesting than I could have imagined in any way."

"Good. But now, you have had your muggle morning, maybe now Mr. Potter wants to talk wizard." He turned to his host and presented a bottle of wine. Harry was well aware that wine came in red and white, and that some wines were more expensive than others. He expected that this bottle of 1984 red was in the more expensive bracket. "Thank you again for inviting us."

Harry presented a chair for him. He was feeling self-conscious. Here was Mr. Greengrass, a rich businessman in his world, highly educated, aristocratic, in well fitting but not ostentatious clothes, and there was he, the magical orphan of his world.

"Ernie told me that you have lots of questions about the world you belong to, Mr. Potter."

"I am still not sure which world I do belong to, Sir. When I first came to Hogwarts, I felt like I was coming home. But my experiences at school have given me the impression that I might be better off living in the muggle world. Like – living to an old age."

Mr. Greengrass sat back and regarded Harry with mild curiosity. "If it does not bother you too much, would you mind telling me what you mean with that? Apart from the obvious slander of last year, of course. Harry looked at Tonks for guidance, but the auror just minutely shrugged. Your call, she seemed to communicate.

He looked at Ernestina, then at her uncle and came to a decision. "Sir, Ernestina has used all the free questions I granted her, and we had agreed to trade questions one on one."

Mr. Greengrass smiled. "I understand, Mr. Potter. But if it acceptable for you, I will offer to pay your information with information you would ask of me as payment for your story. And Ernestina will offer answers for your questions as a payment for the day she spent with you." The girl nodded eagerly, and so Harry shrugged and began to tell his story. He didn't even notice Tonks starting the coals in the middle of his fourth year. His guests were completely quiet while he spoke.

Harry had told his life story several times this year to Tonks' friend the psychologist. It had become easier and easier for him, and he had finally won the security to look his guests into the eyes while speaking. It was obvious that Ernestina was deeply fascinated with the story, and Mr. Greengrass shook his head. When Harry had finished, he nodded slowly. "I think it's easily understandable that you don't like our world as much as you possibly could. In fact, if I were you, I am not sure if I could have survived half of those affairs." He shot his niece a short glance. "If there is anything that the Greengrass family can do for you, just ask."

Ernestina moved uneasily on her chair. "Harry won't understand that, Uncle Raginald." She turned to Harry. "Uncle Raginald has just, as a representative of the Greengrass family, declared that our family is indebted to you, Harry. You can ask for almost any favour you want, and my family will strive to fulfil your wish. That does include a daughter of the family's hand in marriage. You can imagine that such a statement is not often given. And the right answer is to say I accept the pledge. Do not, in any case, thank him!"

Harry nodded and thought for a moment. "I accept the pledge, Mister Greengrass."

The wizard nodded. "So tell me about your opinion on Hogwarts, Mr. Potter."

"It's great, but not all great, if you understand what I mean."

"What would be the three things you would change if you could?"

"More information for us muggle-raised, another potion master and no thread of a mad dark wizard hanging over it." Answered Harry after a short deliberation.

"I can't help you with the third, and I think that you and Ernestina have a good idea to help with the first thing. Concerning the second – I will see what we governors can do about that. But don't get you hopes up. Dumbledore has a lot of leeway how he handles his school."

"Can you at least fire Binns, then?"

Mr Greengrass grinned. "My daughters have asked the same. And, come to that, I have asked my father in my time. We can't. When Cuthbert Binns was hired, they had never-ending contracts in force, and only he can retire."

"So we are basically stuck?"

"Yes. And no." He took a deep breath. "Hogwarts is a very static institution. It can only be changed from within. My father often tells me about the changes in the late 40s, when there were few pureblood students because of the Grindelwald war, and a lot of progressive teachers were hired. I myself was a Slytherin, but we had a lot more cooperation between the Houses than today. And we had a lot of clubs running along, too. Do you plan on continuing the DA?"

"Please, Harry. I want to participate, too."

"Wouldn't it be easier to find a decent defence teacher?"

"It would, but personally, I won't hold my breath. And from what you told me, and even more from the way you told about it, I have the impression that you liked what you did."

"I did. I was doing it for my friends, in the beginning, but later on, I did it for all of them. And for me."

"I can understand that. So if you can, I think it would be a good idea to go on. Even if you will have a lot to do with NEWT-preparation, the DA and the partnership idea that you and Ernestina have."

"Not to mention Voldemort."

As when he had told his exploits, neither Mr. Greengrass nor Ernestina gave a visible sign of discomfort at the name. "You think that he will seek you out again?"

"Yes. I am certain of it." Harry had not told them of the prophecy and he wouldn't. Even his friends did not know, yet.

"We can have dinner if you want to," Tonks interjected.

"So, what exactly have you two in mind for the partnership program?" Mr Greengrass asked between two bites of steak.

"I think we need to keep it as informal as possible, but also put some pressure on the others to participate." Ernestina said. "I thought that we invite everyone into the program and then try to match the people who want to. It's easier with the lower years, because they won't know each other too well. With the upper years, we will have to shuffle a bit."

"Anyone who wants into the DA, participates. No exceptions." Harry nodded. "Though that will leave us with a majority of half-bloods and muggle born."

"I don't think so. You are the golden boy again, Harry. And the tales they tell about your duel in the ministry are nothing if not extraordinary."

"They are wrong. Voldemort would have killed me if not for Dumbledore."

"That's not what they tell. And though I can understand that you don't like it, you can use this kind of political clout for your advantage. But that's something that needs more time and concentration."

After dinner, Ernestina rose and stood close to Harry's chair. "Do you still want to be my date for our summer ball?"

He nodded. "If you still want me?"

"Yes."

"Gladly."

"Then I will teach you how to do some steps. I love to dance and I will not have you crush my feet too much."

Formal wizard dancing was much different from the ballroom dancing shows that Aunt Petunia sometimes watched. It was very formal, to slow music that Mr. Greengrass had charmed a stone to produce. Still, it was fun, and he was close to a pretty girl. Actually, he had not been so close to a girl for such a long time in his life! So Harry was a little disappointed to let them go in the very late evening.


	7. Chapter 7

"Dear Harry,

I have had little dealing with the Greengrass family. They are pureblood, but rather new money, maybe since the 1700s. As far as I know, they are deeply involved in trade. Gamot Greengrass is a conservative, but not a bigot, or so Gran tells me. She does not like the younger Greengrass, who is an elected member and a bit narrow-minded. That can mean about everything... She is, however, full of praise for Raginald (they serve together on the board of governors). Anyway, I don't think that they have supported Voldemort. It's still hard to write the name. However, one of the family's daughters married a pretty mad one who died in Askaban, if I am right, then he should be your friend's father (if you aren't talking about Luna, who is another cousin). I have met the girls several times socially, but I don't know much more than that they are all three very pretty. They have not been to any social function this summer, however. Any idea why?

Anyway, Gran was a bit scandalised that you don't know about the internships. We really tend to forget that you are not really educated in our ways. Of course, anyone would love to have you as an intern. Merlin, they are even asking me! Actually, I will spend August in Spain with Randal Dowlinghouse, the herbologist. He'll introduce me into experimental cross-breeding! Until then, I will have our greenhouse up to speed again. Most of it was only in deep stasis, and the other parts have been repaired. I don't get to spend too much time there, though, because Gran carries me to all kind of ministry functions. She's so proud that I almost got killed... Sorry, that came out wrong. Anyway, for the first time in my life, she considers me a person and now her mission is to make me the true heir of Longbottom. Fun... is something different. Anyway, I think you could profit from an internship with Greengrass. He knows many important people, and – as much as I like the Weasleys – will give you more opportunity to learn about our world than they can.

Hope you enjoy the summer and say hello to the Greengrass girls from me. I guess I will see them at their ball.

All the best,

Neville"

"Neville, mate,

I had Ernestina and her uncle over yesterday. It was quite amazing. We went shopping, and if that wasn't a frenzy, I don't know. Raginald Greengrass is an interesting man, and I am sure that I will accept his offer. We had a long talk yesterday, and he has claimed that his family is indebted to me. Not that I really understand what it means, however, it seemed important to him and Ernestina. She is a pretty girl and a nice one, too. I will be her date for their ball. We had some dancing lessons yesterday so I don't tread her like I did Parvati... I really need to do something for that girl. For the next week, however, it's back to Home alone. Good for you with the internship. I am sure you will learn a lot.

All the best,

Harry."

"Dear Ron,

I had a date yesterday. She's a girl who send me a letter last week, and we had been corresponding ever since. I didn't tell her my name, and she was quite surprised that her penfriend was no one else then me... She's a Ravenclaw rising fourth year, orphaned like me, but she lives with a much better uncle and aunt than I do. Her name's Ernestina, and she's really pretty and fun. Blond, maybe shoulder-length hair, light blue eyes. Ruddy smart, too, but that's what you expect from a Ravenclaw. She's a cousin of Luna, actually. We were shopping and out to lunch (don't tell your Mum!), and later she gave me dancing lessons. We will go to a summer ball together next week.

All the best,

Harry"

"Dear Mr. Potter,

Let me express my sincere thanks for entertaining myself and my niece yesterday at your home. I have given a lot of thought on the things you told me and would like to ask your permission to speak to some of my friends about your experiences. Of course, I would keep these topics only to trustworthy people, but I feel that these things need to be discussed in a broader group. Let me repeat my family's sincere invitation to our summer ball next Saturday.

R. Greengrass"

"Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

The Greengrass family cordially invites you and your partner to a summer night of dancing, frolicking and happiness on the Greengrass summer ball on July 21st from 4 p.m.

R.S.V.P.,

Cordially yours,

William Greengrass"

"Dear Harry,

I would like to thank you again for the wonderful day yesterday. Do you remember that we talked about my fear of muggles in our first letters? I think that this fear was misplaced. Complete and utter panic should be much more adequate. I have never realised how many of them there are. And how powerful they can be. If they can stamp out weapons for the same token price they produce dolls and clothes, we would not last an hour. But it was very interesting. By the way, how do you make pizza? I would love to serve some at our party. You know, something very exotic.

Now, we did not find the time to do our question and answer game. If you still want to play, here are mine for today:

How can the muggles produce so many things so cheaply?

Did you like the dancing yesterday?

Will you go to the ball with me like this?

All the best,

Your Ernestina"

Attached to the letter was a wizards picture. Ernestina wore a long, light blue dress robe that complimented her slender built. The décolleté was deep and let Harry – who was a teenage boy, after all – appreciate this even more. She was beautiful. It took him a few minutes to see that she was wearing the low heels she had bought the day before.

"Dear Ernie,

I can truly say that yesterday was the best day in any July I can remember. I had a wonderful time with you. However, I don't really understand your fascination with muggle production technologies and their prices. Still, to answer your question No. 1: As far as I understand, Barbie dolls are made of plastics, a very cheap material made somehow out of crude oil. When hot, this can be poured in any container and will hold the form after cooling down. Most of the production is done by machines that work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and are very fast. They produce several thousand every day. I believe they produce them in India and China, because work is very cheap there, and then ship them to Britain in large container ships. As for clothes, I believe it's about the same. They produce them by the thousands with large machines. If you want to, I can get you a book about that. What I don't understand is – why don't we just transfigure our clothes? That should be quick, easy and cheap.

2. I liked dancing very much, and I am still astounded by that fact. I especially liked to have you in my arms.

3. Wow. You look great. I have no idea actually what I should wear. What do you think would be good? And where can I get that? Does Madam Malkin do house-service?

Now, my questions.

When's your birthday?

What should I expect with your party?

What are your ideas about the partnership system? I have prepared an invitation and would be happy for your input. Again, I think it is really important to have something like that.

Bonus question (for sending you a receipt for pizza): Tell me all about how the magical world works.

Now, it's getting too loud in here. Sylaris seems quite shocked by the noise muggle machinery can make. Hope to hear from you soon,

Your Harry"

"Dear XY,

To promote cooperation between all kinds of wizards, pureblood, half-blood and muggle-born, we have invented a partnership program. The board of governors supports us in this. Basically, we want to pair someone from a magical background with someone from a muggle background and allow them to spend some time with each other, learning how the other world works. This should – if possible – include visits to each other's homes, discussions and fun. We two have decided to become the first partnership and have had a great time so far. Please send us a letter if you want to participate in this and – if you like – tell us who you want to be partners with. Otherwise we will try to decide on our own. Please note that in the DA (which will continue if Professor Dumbledore allows it) only people in the partnership program will be welcome.

All the best,

Harry Potter and Ernestina de Bokken"

"Dear Mr. Greengrass,

I enjoyed entertaining you as my first ever guests in my house. I really hope to see more of you and your beautiful niece in the next months and thank you for the invitation to the Greengrass summer ball. I will definitely participate with Ernestina as my partner. Thank you also for supporting our partnership idea. We will try to send out letters this or next week. Could you talk to the other governors? And yes, if you believe that telling my story is beneficial to you us two, please share it.

Best regards,

Harry Potter."

"Harry,

Your friends Ginny and Ron have again asked me to let them write to you. Please understand that this would not be safe for you. It is better that no communication can be traced to you. I believe that I will be able to fetch you from Privet Drive sometime around the 10th of August. Please stay in your house as much as you can.

A.D."

"Fat chance." Harry scowled. Ron was getting smarter if he tried to convince the adults that he didn't write to Harry. He only wondered why Dumbledore was so desperate to keep him isolated. Did he really think it would be better for him? Or was there some more sinister reason? Harry was smart enough to see the many obvious problems he had with his headmaster. Either Professor Dumbledore had some very strange ideals or he had a hidden agenda. There was the possibility that he was just not very smart, but Harry did not really believe that.

"Dear Fleur,

I need your help. I have been invited to a ball on Saturday. Usually, I would just ask Hermione, but I am sure that she would not be happy to assist me. Also, because she is muggle-born, she will not know too much about etiquette at pureblood summer-balls. As far as I know, you might be in a better position to assist me. What do I do and which faux-pas should I refrain from? I would prefer if you didn't tell Hermione about this letter. I will tell her about the ball, but I think that this should be done by me and face to face. Actually, I might need your help for that talk, too, but that's for later.

Also, why do you ask me about the Triwizard Tournament?

Anyway, all the best,

Harry."


	8. Chapter 8

"Dear Harry,

How was your date? Mum and Dad need to get back to England at the end of the week, and I had planned to go with them, but Fleur has invited me to stay with them. It seems that the French have the same system of internships, and Apolline has invited me to study charms with her. She is a charms mistress and considered one of the best in France. It's a great chance for me, as in Britain muggle-born usually are not really accepted as interns. So if you don't need me urgently in the next month, I would stay here. Fleur and Gabrielle are doing their best to convince me.

Yourmione."

Tonks chuckled when Harry showed her the letter. "Catch 22. You'll be crucified if you beg her to come home and hanged if you don't."

Harry looked at her with pleading eyes.

"All right, buster. Do you want something from Hermione? The letter is tantamount to putting herself undressed in your bed. She wants something from you."

That was a topic that Harry did not really want to get into. "I'm not sure?"

"How can you be not sure?"

"My dear Myminoe,

As you know, I am a boy, and as such, clueless. Luckily, I have a friend who helps me think (I couldn't really outsource my brains to you in this instance, like I usually do). So. You know how I grew up. I had Tonks translate your letter to me, and I think you deserve the honest answer. As a boy, I am always looking at girls, and believe me, I have known for quite some time now that you are one of that species. Not a normal one, but an extraordinary one. Maybe even the best in the market. I have spent quite a few evenings thinking of you, if you catch the meaning of that. And yes, I can imagine having quite a few little Harrys and Hermiones running around my house in ten or twenty years. You know that I would be not half the man I am without you.

However, I would really, really prefer another go against Voldemort than treating you wrong. And I have absolutely no idea how I should treat you right.

So basically, what I want to say is that you should take the chance to do this internship. I will be waiting for you either in Diagon Alley or at latest on the Hogwarts express. Then, we will hopefully find a chance to go on.

However, I need to point out that I will go to the Greengrass ball with Ernestina. She is a good friend and a sweet girl. I think we need to decide on how we two go on next year on the train, but I will continue to meet her much this summer.

Your Harry

P.S. Would you mind taking this letter to my very best friend Hermione? She knows what I mean, even if I can't really express myself all that well and will explain me to you."

"Dear Harry,

There is one easy question in your letter. Actually, I am not as amazed as I should be that you have to ask it. Basically, the oldest living winner of the triwizard tournament (this being you) is the one who decides when and how the next tournament will take place. Usually, it will be hosted by his school, and he, with the input of all surviving TW-contestants (the complete number being Victor and me) will decide on the rules of the game. It would be appropriate to meet with us this summer and to have a tournament at latest next year.

Now, to the more difficult questions. You know that Hermione wants a little bit more than friendship from you, I would guess. No boy could be so thick not to see that. As Hermione is my friend, I am legally disbarred from assisting you with another girl... Still, you are a Triwizard Champion, and thus your behaviour reflects on me. So, I will help you with the social questions and leave out anything that might woe the girl. Basically, you will need to behave in a very formal manner. You will of course wear dress robes – and of better quality than the ones you did at the Jule Ball. They were adequate for a child, but now that you are a young man, you need something better. Black silk should be good. A formal hat would be good, too. Maybe your friend can help you there. If not, shop at Gladrags. Do not shop at Madam Malkins. A robe from her signifies that you feel inferior. Now, as Triwizard Champion, you rank every male student, as long as he is no Head of a Ancient and Noble House, in which case, he would rank you. You also rank any ministry personal below the position of Department Head. So, you meet a male of these groups that you know and you want to talk to him or acknowledge him, you bow slightly. He will bow back, and if you want to talk to him, you would place your hand to your chin. In a social setting, every girl ranks you, so they decide if they know you. If they want to greet you, they will either catch your eye or – if they are younger – might curtsy slightly. You may then bow to them. Again, a short hand to the chin would signal that you should approach them. Same goes for older people, Heads and Heirs of ancient and noble Houses and of course your hosts. If you don't know somebody, you will not approach them. You must wait till someone introduces you. In that case, you bow rather deeply before a lady, a bit more slightly before a man. The higher rank decides on the topic of the talk and if or not to shake hands. Usually, you should not talk for longer than two or three minutes. Acceptable topics are the weather, which is splendid even if it is raining cats and dogs, your health, which is excellent, thank you, the dresses of the ladies, which are somewhere between stunning and beautiful, and the party, which is great and you are happy to be there. You will not talk about Voldemort, corruption of the ministry, last year's battle or Death Eaters. Only your hosts or persons of high social standing (Wizengamot members, the minister or your hosts) may decide it's time to talk politics. Usually it will be done in a back room in small groups. You will not try to kill any Death Eaters you might encounter there, and they will not try to harm you. Though it might be better to keep half an eye on them.

Now, as you have a date, you will dance at least two out of three dances with her. Every third dance can be danced with someone else. If you don't want to make her look bad, you will only dance with her female relatives, women at least 10 years older than you or girls she asks you to dance with. I hope I do not need to mention that you will compliment her on her dress. It is your job to get refreshments in the breaks between the dances. Usually, footmen or house elves will be present. Just motion to them. You will bring her a small bouquet, preferably of rose or cream roses. Do not use red roses if you don't want to ask her to marry you.

Likely, around 10, you will be asked to step into a back room, where you will meet with others, while your date will go and gossip with her friends. This will last for about one hour, then you will be dancing again. If you step out with her into the garden after dark, she will expect to be kissed. On the terrace, or before 10, you will be safe.

Ha, and you thought you were just going dancing? By the way, Papa will invite you to our summer ball, and you will have the honour of being Hermione's date. If you don't want to, Gabrielle will take over.

All the best,

Your friend Fleur"

Harry shook his head. It had all seemed so easy! And now he had to remember to whom to bow? How the hell did one bow, anyway?

"Dear Ernestina,

My advisor has told me to get some good robes for your ball. Do you have any idea where I can get some adequate clothing? Should I go to Gladrags? And to what colour should my robes fit? You will guide me through the faux-pas I will certainly find, will you?

Yours quite anxiously,

Harry."

"Dear Fleur,

Thank you very much for your advice. And I would love to come to your family's ball, especially if Hermione can be my date. For this purpose, is Gabrielle a family member of Hermione? I am sure that she will want to dance with me.

Your information about the Triwizard Tournament has shocked me. Why does nobody (beautiful females now in Southern France excepted, of course) ever explain anything to me?

"Harry,

The world greatest prat has done it again. Let me just say I am sorry. I told you about Sirius' last will and the fact that the twins were holding it safe for you. The envelope said "to my heir". I decided this morning to send it to you, because I thought that if you want to hang around the old families, you might like the clout of being Head of an Ancient and Noble House. Now, there is no easy way to put it: You are not Sirius' heir. When I took the envelope, it opened. According to it, I am the new Head of the Ancient and Noble House of Black. There was a letter in it for you, and I have attached it to this letter. If you want to break contact with me after this, I will certainly understand. I must however reiterate that I did not want to steal your inheritance. I am more sorry than I could ever express.

Yours hopefully,

Ronald Billius Black, esq."

"Harry,

You receiving this letter means that I have died. Most likely I drank myself to death. Hopefully, I died in a somewhat more meaningful way than I have lived. I would not bet on it, though. Now, you might wonder why you did not receive my last will, but only this puny letter. The basic reason is that I have nothing at all I can bequeath to you. As Head of the House Black, all my properties are part of the family's estate. And this estate can – if no male pureblood Black is alive – only be passed on to a pureblood male of good standing. This means some younger son of the old pureblood families. There were only three such available that I know even a bit, Ron, Fred and George. Charlie, being employed in a foreign country, is not eligible. As I did not want the twins to inherit my estate, I have chosen your friend Ron. I know that he has been a prat more often than not. I know that he is far from an ideal Head of a Ancient and Noble House, but I hope he might mature into something like that. And no, he cannot give you lavish presents. For one thing, my House is not as rich as it pretended to be in former times. There is enough money in our coffers for Ron and Ginny to finish their schooling, and for Ron to live his life in some style, but not more. And family law forbids him to give money to halfbloods. I am sorry that I have let you down so much in your life. Please do not blame Ron, he has neither asked for nor known about this.

Love, Sirius."

Harry's stomach had clenched when he had read Ron's letter, and after reading Sirius', he felt all the pain that his therapist and Tonks had done their best to fight wash over him in a wave. He did not know what to feel. He had been certain that he would be Sirius' heir. Not so much because of any money or even damn old Grimmauld, but for the symbolism. Or else, it would have been some enemy, like Draco, who was some kind of nephew to Sirius after all. Someone he could hate for taking away what was his. But this was Ron. A prat at times, obviously. But along with Hermione also the only real friend he had ever had until the start of the DA. The one who had broken him out of the Dursleys in the summer after first year. The one who had battled his fear of spiders to go and meet acromantulas. He could not hate Ron for taking this. No, not even for taking it, but for being forced to take it.

"Ron,

I don't really know what to say right now. However, I think I don't blame you. More after I have had time to think about that.

Your friend Harry."


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own Harry Potter.

"Dear Harry,

I am sorry that I did not really think about your dress robes. Of course, we must remedy this. And of course, you will not buy one of the rags Madam Malkin sells. If you are up to some experiments, you could wear something I have designed. Maybe we should look and find a seamstress in the muggle world to produce it? I would like to try. If you would be willing to, we could meet either later today or tomorrow and find one. So, my birthday is May, 11th. Your letter to the others is great. I think we should get together and send them the morning after the ball. For the activities, I think we should try to give the participants time to get acquainted, maybe organise that they visit their partner's families for one or two days during the Christmas holidays?

What can you expect from our party? Mostly, a lot of dancing, good drinks, a wonderfully decorated garden and maybe one or two of the guest who will not think that you going to our ball with me is the most interesting piece of gossip in this year. Honestly, if you are as shy as you pretend to be, expect to hate it a bit. Everyone and their uncle will want to meet you and get your ideas on this and that. I promise I will try my best to shield you, but please do not expect too much from me. I will meet you around four, then show you around and introduce you to some members of the family. The other guests will arrive around five, then there will be refreshments and talk until about 6 when all important guests will have arrived. At six, Grandfather and Grandmother will open the ball and then we will dance, walk in the garden, eat and drink a bit here or there, until the break around ten. I will make sure that Uncle Raginald protects you during that, and then we will dance again until about three or four. After that – we will see.

Love, Ernestina."

"Hi Harry.

So you really are going to the Greengrass ball with Ernie de Bokken. We will see each other there, though I will not have an official date. I kind of wanted to invite Hermione after hearing that you went with someone else, but she would not really fit, as much as I like her. You are aware of the rules governing such a ball, are you? If not, please write to me and I will tell you about it. I know very well that you hate your fame, but this ball will – like it or not – confront you about what has happened. And you would shame your host as well as yourself if you don't behave.

All the best,

Neville"

"Ron,

I have needed a night to sleep over it. If you want, we are still best mates.

At least you now have incentive to clean old Grimmauld, hm? How are the others? And what did your Mum say about this? I would guess that the twins are teasing you mercilessly about it? Anyway, I wish you all the best and hope to see you soon.

All the best, your friend

Harry"

"Dear Ernie,

I feel adventurous and will try your collection. We have a clothesmaker in Little Whinning, so if you could come over again? I think we would need to do that soon, so that they can produce the robes in time. I have never had clothes made for me in the muggle world, so I don't know how long it will take.

By the way, do you know anything about the rules of the Triwizard Tournament? It seems that I am supposed to organise the next one. Or could your uncle help me there?

And I am really looking forward for the ball.

All the best,

Your friend Harry"

"Neville,

I have already been advised by Fleur Delacour. Just one question – how would I recognize a Head of an Ancient and Noble House? And as long as we are there – what exactly is an Ancient and Noble House? I know that there are 50 and that they make up the majority of the wizengamot. Potter isn't one, incidentally? I'm looking forward for seeing you there.

Best,

Harry"

"Dear Victor,

I have learned from Fleur that I am supposed to organise the next Triwizard Tournament. So, if you have been expecting a letter from me for quite some time, please excuse me, I didn't know better. Yes, I should have asked around, but with the events after the last task, I was happy not to think about the Tournament any longer. As I have never organised much, I think I will need your and Fleur's help. Would you be free in the last week of August?

How has life been treating you? I read that you now play for Spartakus Moscow and lead their league. Small wonder.

Best from

Harry Potter"

After the last letter, Harry went out into the garden and carefully watched the bushes. Tonks was making it easy today, and he took out the hose, dousing her with cold water. But the voice that answered was male. "What do you think you are doing there?"

Harry's wand flew into his hand, and he let himself fall flat. "Stupify!" He hit, but he stayed down, looking left and right. A motion on the right let him train his wand there, but it was only his auror friend, taking off her cloak.

"Come inside!" she ordered, pulling him into the house. A moment later, the distinct sound of apparation showed three aurors, combat-ready in the Dursleys' garden. "We did get more efficient since the Euros took over," she muttered.

Ten tense minutes later, they heard a knock on the door. "Strike-eagle."

"Spare-birdie." Tonks opened the door. "Hi Johnson. How many were there?"

"Just one. Looks like that attorney Diggle. We'll know in an hour if he is. Who bagged him?"

Tonks pointed to Harry. "That's not procedure. Still, nicely done. And don't worry about the edict. This was reasonable use if I have ever seen one. I would say that we just have a fan gone wild, but still..." He pointed outside, where an old man was heavily manacled and mostly undressed. "You two did good. I'll let you know as soon as I can."

"Sir?" Harry stepped to him. He stretched out his hand. "Thank you. It was a good feeling to see you come as quickly and professionally as you did."

"Just doing our job, Mr. Potter. Finally, we are allowed to do our job." The auror hesitated. "I've got a nine-year-old daughter..."

Harry grinned. "What about the other two guys?"

"If you don't mind, I think four autographs would be appreciated." Harry nodded, went up to Dudley's room and returned a moment later with for wizard's photographies. "What's their names?" "Judith, Tom, Harry and Harry." Harry chuckled, signed them and gave them to the auror. "You can tell the kids that they are the first ones I ever did."

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Potter. And have a nice evening. Tonks, see you later."

He left, and Harry turned to Tonks. She had an evil grin on her face. "What's the matter? I though..."

"Oh, no, not you, Harry. You did great. You handled that extremely well. It's just..." She giggled. "It's just that the auror you talked to is Tom Johnson. And one of the others is Harry Smith. Oh, I love it!" She cackled evilly. "I'll never again have to work on Christmas Day!"

"Tonks, that's unethical." Harry's voice had some mild reproach.

"Sure is, but so what?" She hugged Harry. "You really did great, Harry. With Diggle – if he was Diggle as well as with the aurors."

"Do you think it was Diggle?"

"I would bet. He's in Professor Dumbledore's order. And I think they want to have someone to check on you other than your irresponsible yours truly."

"How did they get here so quickly?"

"New procedure. You know I am on celebrity duty here, and I have this little device to call in the big wands if something happens. Good to know that it works. And now, it's time to celebrate!"

Harry looked at her. "Why?"

"Because this was the first fight I got into as an auror. Ok, I didn't do too much, but still."

When Harry finally got Tonks to lie down, it was past 12 in the evening, and the young auror was completely pissed. Harry himself was not quite sober, but he was amazed at the quantities of alcohol that his friend could ingest before succumbing.


	10. Chapter 10

"Department of Magical Law Enforcement  
>Office of the prosecutor<p>

Dear Mr. H. Potter,

Yesterday evening at about 6 p.m., you spotted and stunned an interloper on your family's estate. It has now been confirmed that said individual is Mr. Daedalus Diggle, LL.M.. Mr Diggle has admitted to trespassing on your grounds and been questioned under an oath of truth. According to this, he and a group of his friends had decided that you need protection from the Dark Wizard Voldemort and they have taken it upon themselves to provide protection for you. How exactly a 110-year old lawyer with no experience in magical combat would be helpful for that, he did not specify. As he has been trespassing, you can press charges against Mr. Diggle. I would like to ask you to decide on this during the next week. Your bodyguard, auror Tonks might be able to advise you on that.

Best regards,

William H. Morris LL.M."

"Diggle, Dandruff and Waterman  
>Attorneys at Law, Solicitors and Barristers<br>Jules Watermann

Dear Mr. Potter,

We have been informed that our senior partner, Mr. Daedalus Diggle, has been arrested while trespassing on your property. As you might know, Mr. Diggle decided to protect you from harm from certain quarters and to stop any kind of situation like last year when you were obviously unfairly prosecuted. He did not, in any way, intend to do you harm and deeply regrets that he did not contact you before entering your property. We deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused to you and propose a settlement out of court as follows: You do not press charges against Mr. Diggle and do not comment on this situation to the press. In return, Mr. Diggle would pay in your name an amount of 500 G to a charity of your choice. We hope that this offer can help defusing this unfortunate situation.

Best regards,

Jules Waterman"

Harry showed both letters to Tonks. "So, what do I do?"

"What do you want to do?"

"Have Diggle and Dumbledore arrested and thrown into my cupboard under the stairs for a century or so." He waved the outbreak away. "Won't happen, I know. If I accept, Diggle will be indebted to me. Maybe, just maybe, he can convince at least some of the order to stop following me around. And you could do a lot of good with 500 galleons."

"Good analysis. On the other hand, if you do not, they will tell that Diggle is an old man, has already taken damage through your stunner and will let him go with a slap on his hands. Also, I would guess that his partners would just love to use this affair to retire him. He's the oldest lawyer in Britain."

"So, what charity do I take? SPEW being disbanded, I don't know any."

"I would recommend the aurors' widow trust, but this might be selfish."

Harry shook his head. "Good idea. He produced an unnecessary emergency for the aurors. And it would give me some brownie points with your kind."

"Still trying to get into my knickers, are you?"

They smiled, and Harry took out his parchment.

"Dear Mr. Waterman,

I accept the settlement you proposed. Please make the amount payable to the aurors' widow trust. Also, please ask Mr. Diggle to kindly inform his associates that next time, I will press charges.

With best regards,

Harry J. Potter"

"Dear Mr. Morris,

I have decided not to press charges against Mr. Diggle, as we have found a mutual settlement. Thank you for your trouble and again please thank the rapid response team for their excellent work.

Best regards,

Harry J. Potter"

"Dear Harry,

The Head of an Ancient and Noble House is recognizable by the family crest with golden threats attached. Of course, the two Heads of Ancient and Noble Houses still at Hogwarts are pretty easy to recognize. One is a bit chubby, has been quite insecure until the last week of term this summer and owns a toad. The other one is red-haired and snores like a saw-mill. I do hope that you assured Ron that you don't blame him – because he really couldn't do anything against it. He couldn't even say no.

Now, the Ancient and Noble Houses are the families that signed the treaty of York with King William II, reforming the wizengamot and excluding the magical world from common law. Most of them had been Normans, but several old families (like mine or the Blacks) had been included. Your family is rather ancient, but not noble. Actually, your family has been hovering on the brink of nobility for about 500 years, now. Most Ancient and Noble Houses forbid their heirs to marry a muggleborn or a good for nothing half-blood. On the other hand, even we know what happens when you marry your cousins for centuries. So we have some few families, like the Potters, the Bones or the Sunnyvales (Brian Sunnyvale is in Ginny's year, a Ravenclaw) who tend to marry their boys off to some pretty and smart muggle-born and their daughters to some noble family. If you had been a girl, we would most likely be engaged some days after your birth. Lucky me. I couldn't stand you as a girlfriend... So, you Potters are a very old family, never too rich, but always handy to freshen up the blood. One could say that Hermione is kind of hard-wired into your blood. Though I would like to point out that Longbottom House allows muggle-born into the family. Didn't happen for the last 650 years, though, when Gilles Longbottom married Princess Mary, daughter of the duke of Leinster. So yes, you are related to all important pure-bloods, but you are – sorry to say – the relation we would rather not talk about. Even if you are the Boy-who-has-too-many-hyphens. Some words to your hosts – Greengrass is – as I said before – a rather young but rich and respectable pureblood family. The de Bokkens are Dutch, having come with William of Orange, so Ernie is not as respectable as her cousins, even if you discount her father. Mrs. Greengrass (senior) is a born Chichester, one of the few families that are Ancient and Noble, and still have a branch in the muggle world. As she and her parents (a very old couple that will open the ball) are the only living Chichesters, her son Raginald will one day take over the Chichester seat.

All the best,

Neville"

"Dear Neville,

You are a good friend, and I will gladly take you into any battle against evil Dark Lords, but there's a line. Please note that I will not marry you. Sorry, but no. No!

Anyway, thanks for the information about the families. I really hope that Ernie will keep me out of the worst pits. See you at the ball,

Harry"

He shivered. There were things that were simply wrong. Suddenly, a small bell chimed, and he shot around. A house-elf with a small bell stood before him. He – or more likely she – was dressed into what seemed an oversized Malibu Barbie outfit. She rang the bell again. "Good morning. Is there anything I can do for you?"

The elf bowed and produced a small card on a small silver tablet, which Harry took carefully. To his surprise, it was a calling card of Ernie.

"May Giggi ask the great Harry Potter if he is at home?"

Harry glanced at the elf, then at the walls of the room he was currently in. "Actually, yes, I am." Somehow he had the feeling that he had missed the sense of the question.

The elf bowed again. "Maybe the great Harry Potter would like to make himself presentable. Mistress de Bokken will arrive in five minutes." With that, it rang the bell again and disappeared in the same silent manner as Dobby usually did.

He checked his dirty workclothes and ran up to his room, donning some normal muggle clothes. A moment later, Ernestina appeared just inside the hall with a small pop. She looked very different from the last time. Instead of her early Victorian children's dress, she wore the Cashmere sweater over a white blouse, something that was not quite jeans and fine leather shoes with a slight heel.

"You look great," Harry greeted her. She smiled and hugged him slightly. "Thanks."

"Come to the terrace." He led her outside. "I just had a strange encounter with your house-elf."

"Yes, she told me that she had a strange encounter with someone pretending to be the great Harry Potter."

"What did I do wrong again?" He told her what had happened.

"Well, she would have expected to talk to your house-elf. He would have taken my card to you, and you would have decided whether to be home for me or not. It's quite ok not to be home even if you are home if you see what I mean?"

Harry thought about that question for a second. "Actually, no."

"Well, imagine that you were going to receive other visitors or were planning a meditation on how to kill You-Know-Who or just not in the mood for me, you would have told her that sorry, you were out. If you wanted to see me later, you could have told her when you were back. But muggles are supposed to do it the same way! My muggle studies book says so. It's supposed to be this way since sometime in the 1800s."

Harry scratched his head. "Ok. Maybe they did in the 1800s, but nowadays, they phone."

Ernestina's eyes lit up. "Like the thing I read about in the muggle science book?"

"Yes. Anyway, it's nice to see you here. Do you want a coke?"

She nodded eagerly. "We will serve coke for the kids at the ball, of course in a more appropriate container. We think it might be a hit. Anyway, I thought we could go dress-making for you. I have some sketches here if you would like to look?"

Harry was about as interested in fashion as any male teenager. It was quite obvious, however, that pretending to be interested would give him quite some time sitting very close to a very pretty, vivacious girl who also smelled very good. There were worse ways to spend the morning, and so he sat and listened to Ernestina explaining the designs she had made. She looked great when she smiled! And when enthusiasm got hold of her like now, her cheeks flushed a bit, making her even prettier. The clothes designs were good, in his opinion, as far as he could see. They seemed a blend between the dress robes he had worn at the Jule Ball and muggle formal dress. It was difficult to pick one design, but finally, he chose one. The quick smile on the girl's face showed that he had chosen well.

The clothing atelier was a rather dark and dusky place. Only one bright halogen lamp shone on an older woman who took her time to come to the small table that served her as a counter. "Yes? What can I do for you?"

Ernestina smiled at her, then looked at Harry. He took a pity with her. "I have been invited to a masque next week, and my friend here has designed something for me to wear. I was wondering if you could produce this. "

The woman went over the sketches and nodded. "I can make you something like that, yes. What is this supposed to symbolize?"

"I'm a wizard. A modern one." He ignored Ernestina's shocked look.

"So your friend is a witch?"

"In the best possible way, yes."

The woman chuckled. "You're the Dursleys' nephew, aren't you?"

"Er, yes."

She looked him over, and finally smiled. "So which school do you really go to?"

"Hogwarts School for the gifted. A small private school in Scotland. I would love to tell you more, but I would have to shoot you." He smiled what he hoped was a rakish smile, obviously with some success, because she smiled, too.

"Fits. Before you came, your aunt was always hinting about her sister who was all super-secret, and them dying so young and without any notice. I didn't know that MI6 recruited this young."

"You will understand that I can neither confirm nor deny that."

"Rather. Now, I can make this. You are sure that you want silk?" She asked Ernestina.

"Yes, definitely."

"150 quid." Harry nodded. "Deal. But I need it till Friday."

The woman nodded and took his measurements.

When they left, Ernie stopped him. "You told her about Hogwarts and magic!"

Harry laughed. "Of course I did. And stop the oblivators. She does not believe that we can do real magic. She thinks that we are visiting some Secret Service school."

"What is a Secret Service?" Ernestina was not convinced the slightest. Harry explained.

"So they will believe that you are some kind of spy in training and any magic you do will be explained as technology?"

"Yes. And it will give the people tons of stuff to gossip about." They went for some ice-cream (Harry's treat) and then back to the house, where they signed the letters that Ernie had prepared with a copy-quill and the aid of several of the Greengrass house elves. She then left with the aid of the elf, and Harry found himself alone again with two more, very stately owls.

"Harry,

I cannot say how disappointed I was when I heard that you let Daedalus be arrested. He was only there for your protection and now has to go through great difficulties. I think you should apologise to him as soon as possible. And please, stay in the house. I will try to get a new guard for you as soon as possible.

Albus Dumbledore"

Harry shook his head. Maybe he should have pressed charges, just to spite the old man.

"Dear Professor Dumbledore,

I am sorry about that. But I had no way of knowing that it was really Mr. Diggle. As you have repeatedly promised to tell me everything concerning myself, I was sure that I would be informed if anyone except for Tonks would be posted for my protection. I was quite afraid that he was a Death-Eater under polyjuice or something. And I think that the aurors' reaction shows that I am right now amply protected without inconveniencing the order members further. How is the situation with Voldemort?

I have already declared that I will not press charges against Mr. Diggle. By the way, when can I leave here?

All the best,

Harry Potter"

Tonks smiled when she read the letter. "He is losing his touch. Right now, the Euros call the shots in the ministry, and they don't care a shit what he wants. He's not used to that."

"Are they really that good?"

"I don't know about good. But they are nothing if not efficient. We have seventy aurors from 10 nations in Headquarters, and they keep the whole country rather save and Voldemort in the defensive. Don't know how long this may hold, but for now – they get the job done. And they aren't anyone's best pal."

Harry nodded and fished off the next letter.

Jean Delacour, .

Dear Mr. Potter,

My daughters have decided that you must be our guest for our summer ball on August, 5th. It seems that it is of the utmost importance for you to come and see how real people (meaning French) celebrate summer balls, and of course Gabrielle wants to dance with you whenever Hermione takes a breath. Please make the time. Especially my little girl will be devastated if you don't.

Best regards,

Jean Delacour."

Harry then looked at the fancy card that – at least he suspected – contained the invitation to the ball in French. It was even grander than that of the Greengrasses.

"Dear Mr. Dealcour,

Thank you for the invitation. If in any way possible, I would love to come to your ball. However, as I am living with muggles, I would need some kind of international transportation. I do not own a passport. Is it possible to go to France in some magical way or need I take muggle transport?

Thank you again,

Harry Potter."


	11. Chapter 11

I do not own Harry Potter, but you knew that

"Dear Harry,

I am happy to hear from you. I was afraid that you would exclude Durmstrang from further participation because of the delicate political situation in Britain and the disdain several important figures in Britain have for our school. After what happened at the conclusion of last Tournament, I would have understood that. Still, it is nice to hear that you don't see our former headmaster as pars-par-toto.

As far as I am aware, no student or teacher at Durmstrang actively supports the dark wizard you have in Britain. This year might be too early, but I would love to see a tournament next autumn term. Maybe though, we can make the events a bit more spectator-friendly. Except for the first event, where my sponsors really weren't happy to see you flying around while I used brute force, no one saw anything. Feel free to call upon me if you need any help for the organisation. My agents are extremely qualified to organise mass events and would do this pro bono.

Now, I have a test game against France tomorrow afternoon on the Brocken quidditch stadium. I have enclosed two tickets with portkeys. I hope that we can talk after the game and that you cheer for Bulgaria.

Best, Victor"

Harry put down the letter. "Tonks!"

The auror almost reverently took the tickets. "The game of the season. Sold out almost as quickly as the world cup finals. In the best quidditch stadium in Europe. And an after-game meeting with the best player in the world."

"Tonks, you are hyperventilating."

"Sorry. Well of course, you can go there, but you will need protection."

"So I will take you?" Harry had thought about Ernestina.

Tonks rolled her eyes and smiled. "Of course. You wanted a date with me, didn't you?" Harry had to hold back laughter as she batted her eyelashes at him, letting them grow to monumental lengths for a moment.

"All right, I could do worse."

"That you could." She pulled the Daily Prophet out of her bag. "I think you should read this."

Young Lords saved the day

As our readers have learned, on June 4th, a group of students were able to defend the Ministry against an attack of Death Eaters, among them You-Know-Who himself. With much pleasure, we can now disclose that these students were led by none other than the two youngest Heads of Houses and Wizengamot Members, Lord Neville Longbottom and Lord Ronald Black, newly elevated Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Black. They and their comrades in arms, Ms. Ginny Weasley, Lord Black's younger sister, and Ms. Luna Lovegood, a collateral of the Greengrass clan, will receive the Order of the Merlin, 2nd class, from the hands of our beloved Minister Cornelius Fudge himself on July 29th. While giving the reasons for this decision, Minister Fudge has said: "It fills me with great pleasure to see that the Ancient and Noble Houses of the wizengamot are again on the front against You-Know-Who and will support the position of the ministry in this fight. Lords Longbottom and Black have shown an exemplary dedication for our government and its positions."

Harry forced himself to breath calmly. It took him almost two minutes until he felt he could face his body-guard. Seeing her worried face, he broke out in laughter. "Whenever I think they can't screw up any worse, the go and do."

She shrugged. "Giving away decorations is about the only power that the EU left him."

"I just feel kind of bad for Hermione. She really deserves one, too. And she needs it."

"What about Harry Potter?"

"I believe I've got a first-class one somewhere in my dungeon. For killing Voldemort. If they didn't quietly withdraw that after he survived. I don't need it."

There was a lot to do this day at the house, and Harry helped the workers a bit. In the afternoon, he went to the small town centre and made 200 copies of their letter in the copy shop. At their next meeting, Ernie could sign them, too, and then they would get going. At home, two owls were waiting, Ron's and Neville's.

"Dear Harry,

I don't know if you have read the prophet. I have attached the article. They have completely ignored you and Hermione, and I don't think that I will be able to accept the order. But at least we can make a scene in front of the ministry. Will you be there to watch?

Anyway, I have received several invitations to all kinds of summer functions. Seems to come with the title. Dad is trying to teach me pureblood behaviour. And I am working my way through the back-log of 10 years of mail, contracts, business proposals and accounts. Boy, and to think that school was boring...

On Saturday, we will meet at the Greengrass ball. I will be Luna's date. That girl is scary, but in a good way!

Best, Ron"

"Harry,

I believe you have heard about the orders awarded to the purebloods of the ministry 6. Fudge is trying to hold on to his office nails and teeth. It will not help him in the long run, but for now, he feels that ignoring you and Hermione will give him more support. The bad thing is that he might be right. In the history of Britain, only two living muggle-born were awarded the second class. We have had some awarded after their death, like your mum. Why he excludes you, I am not so sure. I think he is afraid that you might be too principled not to make a scene. He might be right with that, too. Still, the same might be true with Ron and Luna, and maybe with Ginny, too. This is why I will hold the speech for the four of us. Please do not come to the ceremony. I promise to make a bang, but I will not go into details yet. If I know you right, you will be angry about Hermione, but won't care too much about you.

By the way, for the party on Saturday. I know that you ask everyone and his brother to call you Harry, or even better Just Harry. Please refrain from doing so there, except for the members of the DA and Astoria Greengrass. You will be addressed either as "Heir Potter" by the more old-fashioned people and by those who don't like you too much, "Master Potter" by most others, the title for the titular head of a Family, and "Msr. President" by foreigners, because you are the President of the Triwizard Organisation. A Head of a Most Ancient and Noble House is Lord whatever, his wife is Lady whatever. Elected members of the wizengamot are addressed as "Gamot Whatshisname", although you can call them Lord, too. The heirs of families are always called "Heir XY", and all others are Mr., Mrs. Or Ms. I know it's difficult, but Ernie will help you there.

Best,

Neville."

"Dear Neville,

I am mostly angry about Hermione, yes, because she could use the clout. I am trying not to be angry about me. Mostly, I am succeeding. Still, I hate the way the ministry and the Prophet run roughshod with the truth. But I do not grunge you four the medal and the money.

And thanks for the hints. How do I call a Lord of an Ancient and Noble House who is living in my dorm at Hogwarts and whom I have called by his given name since I know him?

Best, Harry."

"Dear Ron,

Thank you for being angry on Hermione's and my behalf. Still, I would beg you and Ginny to accept the award. You can use the money, and please don't forget that the title Lord Black can only be awarded to a pureblood of good standing. I would not put it past Fudge to exclude me in the hope that you decline the award for Lucius to push in and get the title for his good-for-nothing spawn. So please take the awards. Neville has promised me some kind of show, but he is in a much stronger position than you. And I am looking forward to seeing you, Luna and Neville at the party. Tomorrow, I am going to Germany to watch Victor Krum playing quidditch.

All the best, Harry."

AN: I don't usually do author's notes, but allow me to say something about dear old Ronald B. Black. I love Ron-bashing as much as everyone on this side, but I think it is slightly unfair. Yes, Ron is not always the ideal best mate. Still, he is a teenager with an overbearing mother, five succesful older brothers and a best mate who is something like the A-celebrity of Britain. Allow him some room. Now, many reviewers have stated their fear that Harry is cheated out of his inheritance. I don't think it is strange to restrict the inheritance to purebloods. At least in the Prussian parts of Germany, including the former imperial family of Hohenzollern, there were bylaws that excluded anyone marrying a commoner from inheriting. There was a quite spectacular family dispute in the Hohenzollern family several years ago that went up to the Constitutional Court concerning the rights of some prince who did marry a commoner. I think that the Blacks could easily have such a bylaw, but of course restricted to pureblood. And, you must admit: Having Harry inherit Sirius' wealth has been done to death (I couldn't resist temptation in No good deed, either), hasn't it?


	12. Chapter 12

Shockingly, I must reveal that I do not own Harry Potter.

The next afternoon at two, Harry and Tonks took their portkeys to the Brocken sports complex in Germany. The stadium there was a much more durable affair than the world cup stadium. The ticket man glanced at their tickets, then bowed deeply. "Mr. President, welcome to the Brocken. Mr. Krugel will be here in a moment."

Harry heard Tonks breathing hard. She elbowed him into the side. "He's the president of the European Quidditch Association."

A moment later, a very well dressed man of about sixty apparated in front of them. "Mr. Potter. I may call you Harry, right?"

Harry was very well aware that he wore no business robes, but only some Bulgarian fan-clothes that his incomparable bodyguard had somewhere organised. "Mr. Krugel. It's an honour."

"Call me Franz, Harry. We are all sportsmen here. So you are cheering for Bulgaria?"

"Definitly. Victor has invited me to watch them."

The wizard nodded and began a short tour. The Brocken had been the centre of European broomsports since time immemorial, and a small museum was dedicated to the brooms of famous winners of quidditch, broomball, quodbad and racing competitions. It was rather interesting, and Harry would have loved to test out some of the experimental brooms on display.

"Even the muggles know something about it. In the middle ages, there were no big muggle repellents in place, and so everyone in Germany knows that witches meet on the Brocken with their brooms." He showed them a few dolls of ugly witches on brooms. "They still sell them all over the place here. But now, we have not had a sighting for more than a century. And we have more international games in our stadium than anywhere else in the world." The German official was obviously proud. "Now, Harry, we really must talk about your next tournament. Do you think that we can have some more broomsports in it? I mean, last time you were the only one to even use a broom. And more than 70 percent of all wizards sports use a broom."

Harry nodded. "I have been thinking about it. What I really don't want is quidditch being discontinued for another year. My friends would kill me!"

"Very good. Now, I have to see if the teams are all right. We see each other tonight at the victory party." He motioned to a young witch. "Angelika, please see that Harry and his guest have everything they need and bring them to the central balcony in time, ok?"

The witch nodded to him. "If you would please follow me? We have a small buffet for the officials."

At four in the afternoon, Harry was seated in the front row of the central balcony between Franz Krugel and the secretary of the Bulgarian quidditch association. A small plug in his ear allowed him to follow the announcer in English.

"Let me welcome you to the exhibition game between the Bleues, the French national team, and the Bulgarian nationals, European Champions and favourites for the Worlds next summer. I have talked with Jacques Duront, the French coach, this morning and he assured me that they are more than willing to take down Bulgaria. But first let me welcome some important fans: Ms. Emilia von Donnern, German minister of magic." Cheers rose when a middle-aged witch rose from her seat three places left of Harry's and waved into the crowd. "It must be sad for he to see that Germany has not been qualified for the world cup this time." Loud booing from the German fans answered. "Now, we have rock stars Jose Coras, Ted Walter and Juri Famoso." The cheers were much louder for them than for the politician. "And of course, from Britain, the President of the Federation International Trimagique, Harry Potter. The man whose flying has shamed Victor Krum in the Triwizard Tournament." Beet-red, Harry rose and waved, shocked at the amount of applause.

Then, the game was off. The weakness of the Bulgarian chasers in the last world cup finals was gone. Harry could easily see why they were the favourites. The French seeker was extremely good, but it was quickly obvious that he was out of his league when flying against Victor Krum. The Bulgarian made clear that he was the upper dog five minutes into the game when he let his opponent through a series of barrel-rolls right through the French chasers and beaters, leading to a slight collision between the French seeker and one of his chasers. Thirty minutes into the game, Harry saw something golden glitter close to the left upper stands. The aggressiveness with which Victor herded the Frenchman to the other side of the stadium made clear that he had seen it too, but considered it too early to finish the game. The crowd cheered loudly.

It was only at a standing of 210 to 90, almost two hours into the game, that Victor stopped harassing his opponent and started seeking in earnest. It did not take him long and with a beautifully executed dive, he caught the snitch, securing the total of 380 to 100. Harry cheered wildly with the Bulgarian section of the fans.

Twenty minutes or so later, Harry was led to a huge conference chamber where some of the players were already sitting on a long podium. Reporters called questions, which they answered more or less patiently. It was interesting to see how two successful national teams had been planning and organising their game, and it showed Harry again how much difference there was between being a successful team at Hogwarts and being an internationally success. Especially Victor seemed very happy with his victory and waved at Harry when he sat down. That led several of the reporters to turn to him. "So, Mr. Potter. Do you think that you could beat Mr. Krum?"

Harry looked around and pointed to an antique broom mounted on the wall with a plaque declaring that this broom had carried Saxon witch Heike Gronlund to the broomball Championships of 1562, 1563 and 1565. "Well, if you give him that broom and tie a hand behind his back, sure. I guess I might take three out of four snitches." The laughter in the room showed that he had gauged his audience correctly.

It went without saying that Harry and Tonks were guests at the Bulgarian victory celebrations. Victor clasped hands with him. "So you wouldn't even want to try beating me?"

Harry laughed. "Great game. And I would love to try. But while I might be the best seeker at Hogwarts, you still are the best in the world."

"It's just a matter of practise. Who's your friend?"

"Oh, sorry. That's auror Tonks, my security detail and good friend. We are cousins, after a fashion."

"Nice to meet you, auror. It must be trying to keep this wizard out of trouble."

Tonks smiled at him. "Even Harry can be trained."

"I would have thought that you would bring Hermione?" Victor's face got earnest for a second.

"She's on holiday in France. Otherwise, I would have tried to bring her."

"You two finally dating?"

"No, not yet."

A grunt answered. "I warn you. If you don't date her until autumn, I will try again. She is cute."

Victor personally introduced them to his teammates, and Harry did his best to see this party as a training field for Saturday. As Victor had said. It was all a matter of practise. Actually, after he had fought back his shyness, he found that he quite enjoyed this. Most of the players and guests were young enough to still have fun in fooling around, discussing their plays in detail and bragging about their chances for the upcoming world championships. As Harry was the only other seeker in the room, it didn't take too long to be dubbed "Mini-Victor" by the Bulgarian chasers. Life was fun.


	13. Chapter 13

Surprisingly, I do not own Harry Potter... So, back to letters. And a meeting with Hermione's parents. I am aware that Dr. Granger is not what many American parents would likely be like, and especially not like the girls' fathers mostly pictured on this site. I don't know too many Englishmen, but I think that a good lot of continental European fathers would have some talk like that. Don't like, don't read.

"Dear Harry,

Neville has explained to me and Ginny in the most explicit terms why we should accept the orders. He did not mention the inheritance, but I guess you are right with that. Anyway, we will accept them and will be nice little pure-bloods. But we will find something to make up to Hermione.

But now to the important things. How did you get to watch the game of the year? I guess our great headmaster doesn't know about it? How was the game? Did you talk to Krum? Is he still into Hermione?

See you on Saturday,

Ron"

"Dear Harry,

I think this is the longest time I have spent without a letter from you. What have you been up to? Please remember to check your robes today, so that we know you will have them tomorrow. I am really looking forward to seeing you. Can you bring the copies of our letters to the others? Our home is already in preparation for the party. The elves have erected the tents, and the halls are shining. Uncle Raginald has lifted the geas from us three so we can talk to the guests at the party. He is thinking of keeping mine lifted if I behave. I don't know about Tori and Daphne. I can't wait to introduce you to them and all the others. We will have so much fun! Now, I have designed some witches' dresses for my Barbie. I'll show you the sketches if you come a bit earlier.

Love,

Your Ernie"

It was a good thing that she reminded him. Harry dressed and went down to the store. The woman had another customer and was talking animatedly with her, when she saw Harry and stopped. "That's him."

The woman scrutinised him. "Good afternoon. I'm Anabel Sutton."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Harry Potter."

"My aunt has told me you and your friend dabble in clothes design?"

"Ernestina does. I'm more of her mannequin."

The woman smiled. "Would you mind wearing these robes for me?"

Harry had no idea where this was going, but complied. The woman made him walk up and down, turn and stop. "Very pretty. And you are a wizard?"

Harry sighed inwardly. So his joke came back to haunt him. Some quick thinking was necessary. "Yes. You see, my friend and I are both orphans, my parents were murdered and her mum committed suicide. So we kind of invented a parallel world where we were wizards and fighting against a bad, evil wizard. I am, of course, his arch-nemesis and a hero."

"And the wizards in your world wear such things?"

"Yeah. They are rather backward in some aspects, but they have their magical powers. So think of some kind of Victorian age with instant communication and teleportation."

"Cute." The woman chuckled. "Your friends are in?"

Harry nodded. "We are about 20 or so already, all roleplaying this."

"What's your girlfriend's last name?"

"de Bokken. Why?"

"Oh, I am an advisor for cloth labels. Potter & de Bokken - Magical wear. I really like that idea."

Harry was definitely in over his head. "What are you talking about?"

"Well. I think it will take a bit longer to explain that. Do you think that you could ask your friend over for a talk? I could invite you for lunch?"

Harry shrugged. "I could send her an owl. Next week?"

The woman chuckled. "Yes, that's a good idea. Will you call me?" She handed him a business card.

"I will." Harry nodded to her, still feeling a bit railroaded. He then paid for his robes and went home.

"Have you asked Hermione to be your date at the Delacour ball, by the way?"

Harry shook his head. Tonks hit the back of his head with her flat hand. "Imbecile! Do it now! And use at least a pink rose. I'll preserve it for you."

"My dear Mymione,

I have received an invitation to the ball at the Delacours. Would you possibly do me the honour of being my date for that ball?

For me, quite a lot has happened. Yesterday, I was at the quidditch game between Bulgaria and France in Germany. Victor has invited me and told me to send you his best. It was great! I wish I could do half the manoeuvres he does. Maybe if I had been able to practise with a real coach from the beginning on. Why doesn't Madam Hooch teach us advanced flying? I know that it was probably not really smart to go there, but Tonks went with me, and I don't think that Voldemort has his agents in Germany. They seem very prosperous there.

How does your internship go?

Love,

Harry."

"Dear Harry,

I have now sent our letters to the other students. I am really looking forward for their reaction. I have asked the owls to send the replies to you, as I think that your status will help participation. And I am really looking forward for tomorrow.

Love,

Ernie"

The phone rang. "The Dursleys' residence, Harry Potter speaking."

"Good evening Harry. This is John Granger."

Harry froze. "Is everything alright with Hermione?"

A chuckle answered him. "Yes, certainly. I hope so. She is, as you know, still in France, and my wife and I had to return to merry old England. Now, as Hermione has told us so much about you, we would like to meet you. We will be driving through Surrey in about an hour. Would you have time to go for dinner with my wife and me?"

"I would have to ask. One moment please."

"No need to hurry."

Harry went out, found Tonks, asked her and returned. Death-Eaters would neither use telephones nor would they drive.

"Mr. Granger, are you still there?"

"Yes."

"I would like to meet you two."

"Great. Privet Drive 4. Will auror Tonks join us?"

"It might be better, Sir."

"Ok. We pick you up."

An hour later, a sleek BMW limousine pulled up the driveway. Harry had seen Hermione's parents a few times at King's Cross and once in Diagon Alley. So he knew that the man and the woman who came out of the car were his friend's parents. Not to mention that there would be very few Death-Eaters who would be able to drive a car or use a mobile phone.

"Hi Harry. Nice to meet you again." They shook hands, and Harry introduced Tonks to them. They then sat back into the car and drove to a pub in the town centre. Mr. Granger sat down at one of the tables. "Ah, finally. Honest to god, fatty, unhealthy British food."

Mrs. Granger smiled at her husband's antics. "Yes, it was awful, eating all that wonderfully prepared French cuisine. Not to mention the wines." She turned to Harry. "Thank you for making the time. It is strange that you are best friends with Hermione for almost five years now, and that we have not met socially."

Harry smiled. Gryffindors charge ahead. "I hope Hermione has not told too bad stuff about me."

Mr. Granger shrugged. "Basically, she told about how difficult it is to get you to study, and how well you play this quid... quiddutch?"

"Quidditch, sir."

Mrs. Granger chuckled. "And how cute you are. First we thought you were her puppy."

"Now, after Fleur talked about the Triwizard Tournament and we put our daughter through the third degree..." Mr. Granger rolled his eyes. "We have heard some more. About you fighting basilisks, soul-sucking monsters, dragons, merpeople, evil wizards, more evil wizards, immortal evil wizards..."

Tonks giggled.

"It's not all that funny, Mrs. Tonks. In the world where we live, we expect the police and the teachers to keep students save. You are a police-woman, are you?"

Harry shot in. "Luckily, the Britain where you live is not a third world-country in which every eleven-year old always has a deadly weapon at hand, Mr. Granger."

The dentist waved his hand. "I've had this discussion with my daughter and the Delacours and lost it, too. Still, I don't have to like it."

"So you want me to stop being close to your daughter, yes?" Harry felt dejected, but could understand Mr. Granger's reasoning.

The dentist surprised him by laughing. "Harry, do I look suicidal? Of course, as a father of a girl I am required by law to hate every young man that comes close to my little daughter. You can't hold that against me. But telling you to stop being close to her." He chuckled. "You do have met my daughter, yes? Tell me, what do you think would she do if she were to find out that I told you to stay away from her?"

Mrs. Granger answered. "I'm rather sure you would survive it, darling. She is not truly evil." Then she turned to Harry. "Actually, Harry, we do not want to keep you away from her. She thinks she is in love with you, and there would be no better way to push her away from us. No, we wanted to meet the boy who fascinates her so."

Their drinks arrived, and Harry spent most of the evening trying to explain the rules of quidditch to Mr. Granger, who professed his willingness to forgive the wizard world all dark lords in case he would be able to fly a broom just once. Mrs. Granger was more interested in healing and quickly started a discussion with Tonks about it.

At eleven p.m., the Grangers drove Harry and Tonks back to Privet Drive. Mr. Granger got out of the car and steered Harry to the back of the building, onto the terrace.

„Now, Harry, from what I have heard from Hermione, your uncle was not really someone like a father to you."

Harry nodded to the older dentist.

"So if you allow, I will try to talk to you like I would imagine I would talk to my son – if I had one. And I would like to talk to you about girls and their thinking. The first thing you need to know about girls is that they do not think like us." He smiled. "Even a girl who seems on the outside as rational and smart as Hermione. So if a girl says that she dreams about everlasting love, marriage and kids, what would you say is on her mind?"

Harry shrugged. "I guess you will tell me that it's not everlasting love, marriage and kids?"

Mr. Granger's hand patted Harry's shoulder. "There is hope for you yet! You are right. Now, if you are honest, how would you feel if I asked you to marry Hermione and have kids with her?"

Harry grew beet-red and stammered: "Er… well… you know…?"

"Would utter panic, fear and the impulse to bolt somewhere safe feature among your thoughts?"

Harry nodded, head down. Again, the hand touched his shoulder gently. "Actually, this is the normal way of thinking. You are – none withstanding the fact that your world tries to tell you something different – kids. You might not like to hear that, but you are. And you are in no way ready for the responsibility of marriage and children." He lowered his voice. "Don't tell my wife, but I am not sure if I am yet." He sat back on the lawnchair. "Now, what you kids do need is to fall immortally in love for a few weeks at a time. To kiss around, maybe get into bed with the girl you like, have some sex or not."

He exhaled. "What you should not be seeking is a soulmate you can spend your life with.

Now, you have met my wife. She is a wonderful woman, and I love her dearly. However, there is no week that there is not one moment I could strangle her for something she has done or has not done. And I am rather certain that this is the same for her. We fit well together, but we are not perfect and we accept it. And I need to tell you that I met her when I was 36 and she 31. We had lots of girlfriends and boyfriends before we got together. I had my first sex when I was 16, and my wife was only a little older."

He stroked his chin, collecting his thoughts. "Where was I? Harry, Hermione is not looking for someone who marries her. She looks for a boyfriend to have fun with, to kiss, to hang out, to make her feel the coolest girl alive and maybe to have sex with. You have not heard it from me, but I am rather certain that you would not be the first. And this is good."

Harry held up his hand. "This is going a bit differently than I imagined this talk to go, Sir."

"You were waiting for the "what are your intentions on my daughter and I kill you if you don't marry her" thing?"

Harry nodded.

"Why?"

"Because it's the way I thought you would tick, if you allow me to say so."

"Thought so. Tell me, Harry, would you think any differently of Hermione if she had had sex with Victor when we visited them last summer in Bulgaria?"

Harry had to think about this question. "May I be completely honest with you, sir?"

"Nothing you say tonight will ever come to her ears. I promise you that, and I expect the same courtesy from you."

"I think I would think differently of her, yes. Not that she is a scarlet woman or so."

He was interrupted by Mr. Granger's laughter. "Sorry. You still use the words scarlet woman?"

Harry had blushed, but continued on. "It's more of a thing that I could not really picture her having sex with anyone."

"Ms. Proper and Prim, right? Someone who wouldn't do this because it violates the laws of the universe?"

"Something like this, yes."

"Well, she isn't. Not in her heart of hearts, at least, but to the outside, yes, I can see how you got to this impression. Believe me, it's always the quiet ones. But tell me more. How would this change the way you look at her."

"I think I would be a little bit scandalized. But mostly, it would seem a bit as if she has stepped out of my world and into the adult one."

"Have you ever read Pierce Anthony? He calls it the adult's conspiracy."

"No, I have not, but it sounds like what I want to say."

"Because sex is something so mysterious, magical and the first time is something for the eternity?"

Harry nodded.

The dentist snorted. "I will tell you how my first sex went. I was 16, my girlfriend about the same age. To make a long story short, I came about seven seconds after I entered her, she hurt because her hymen was somewhat too strong. And at the second attempt our condom broke, leaving us to panic for three weeks until she got her bleedings. It was about as close to disaster as you can get. My wife tells the story how her first boyfriend got so excited he couldn't get hard for a few hours, and everyone who is honest will tell you that the first sex is about one of the memories he would like to forget as soon as possible. Second, third and consecutive sex gets better. But still, there is not much mysticism about it. It's fun, and it's pleasant, and it can be a great way to say I love you and I trust you, but there is no magic light coming over you. It might be different with magicals, but I seriously doubt it."

"But my parents married directly after school and everyone tells me how great a couple they were."

"There are some of those. And I would guess that maybe they would still be very much in love, still. But many people who marry directly after school can also grow away from each other. What would have happened to your parents, I don't know. But, and please do not take this as criticism to them – I have never known them – there is a reason that the Roman Catholic church sanctifies only dead people. I am not all good, and neither is my wife. No one I know is. So most likely, neither were your parents. Usually a child can find it out on his own. It's a difficult time, and they call it puberty."

Both sat in silence for a moment, then Mr. Granger sighed. "We have come quite a roundabout way. What I really want to tell you, if you ever have a girl throwing herself on you, smile as widely as you can. Do not talk about marriage, do not talk about kids. Make sure that you two have as much fun as you can and use protection if you decide to have sex. Most likely, you will break up in a few weeks. If you do, do it in such a way that you can still, in a few years time, meet at a bar and have drink together, laughing how childish you had been." He smiled. "You have heard it before, but these years are supposed to be the time you make all these memories you will tell your grandchildren and your great-grandchildren about. And if you don't break up, continue to have fun. Never forget that. Enjoy your life to the fullest, because it is the only one you will ever get."

Harry nodded slowly. "Have I blown my chances with Hermione?"

"No. I don't think so. But you need to learn to relax. And I am not sure if waiting for Hermione until the end of the summer is what you want to do. When you two are next free, give it a try, but do not wait for something that might or might not be the thing. And if you ever need to talk, give me a call or send me an owl." He smiled at Harry. "There is just one thing: If you ever have sex with my daughter, I do not want to know."

After the Grangers had left, Harry lay down on his cot. Was Mr. Granger correct?

"Dear Ernie,

I have had an interesting talk with a muggle today about courtship, friends and marriage. I suddenly understood that I have absolutely no idea about how we wizards go on about it. I know that my parents married directly out of Hogwarts, and I think somehow always expected that every wizard and witch do. I know that there are some couples in our years, but I have never really given any thought about it. I know it's a strange information request, but I would be happy to hear from you about it.

Love,

Harry"


End file.
